Thousands of Minnesotans came together Sunday, Oct. 28 to support the transgender, intersex and gender-expansive community. They lined up along the south-side curb of Lake Street in Minneapolis, stretching 40 blocks to Marshall Avenue in St.Paul.

Transgender, intersex, gender-expansive citizens and their allies held signs as they sat and stood shoulder to shoulder in a show of visibility. The “WeWontBeErased” event was in response to a recent memo revealing that the Department of Health and Human Services has proposed changing the definition of sex under Title IX and restricting it to be determined by genitalia at birth.

One of the lead organizers of the event was sophomore Andrew P. Weston.

“It was an incredibly arduous process, but we essentially reached out to different nonprofits through community connections we had and ended up making more connections along the way,” xe said. “We ran the Facebook page and answered questions and responded to suggestions throughout the five and a half days we planned and we met with people from different activist organizations including Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Twin Cities and First of April Anarchist Alliance.”

Making sure that community members were able to access the event was of importance to Weston and fellow organizers.

“We wanted to create a demonstration where anybody, of any ability level or age, could participate without fear of legal/job repercussions,” xe said. “A lot of times protests and marches forget about ways to safely include young people and elders, as well as disabled people, and when they are not ‘legal’ demonstrations, people who can’t risk losing their job feel like they can’t participate.”

Sophomore Mary Wiertelak attended the event in part to support her close friend, Weston.

“I think it’s important that if an issue matters to you that you use your voice and take a stand,” Wiertelak said.

Around the nation, thousands of people gathered to stand in solidarity. The hashtag #WeWontBeErased trended throughout multiple social media platforms, as members of the transgender community shared their stories.

“The biggest message is that we’re stronger together, love trumps hate and everyone deserves to be seen and have rights,” Wiertelak said.

In a press release for the event, Weston stated, “These proposed policy changes will make discrimination against transgender, intersex and gender-expansive people legal in areas of federal jurisdiction. These definitions of sex and gender not only undercut the autonomy of transgender, intersex and gender-expansive people but also put the federal government in a position with the power to decide how Americans should act in relation to their bodies.”

Hamline University’s Sexualities and Gender Programs sponsored the event, providing advertising support and transportation for students. Hamline United Methodist Church  also donated money to organizers which were used to create toolkits for marshals.

With midterm elections fast approaching, organizers urged people to vote.

“One of the best ways to show support for transgender, intersex and gender-expansive people is to vote for candidates who have promised to fight for true gender equity,” Weston said.

Students from schools all over the Twin Cities came out to stand with the transgender community.

“I heard about the event on Facebook, and wanted to come out and show my support and stand in solidarity.” Logan Allen, a first-year at Minneapolis Community and Technical College said.

Overall, Weston expressed positive statements about the event.

“The community response was beautiful. The event was a celebration of transgender, intersex and gender-expansive people, and gave our community new hope in a time where the federal government is borderline threatening our very existence,” xe said.