Produced and co-directed by filmmaker Matt Nadel, along with co-director Megan Plotka and co-producer Wendi Cooper, the film explores the impact of the controversial 40-year-old law that made it a felony to solicit “unnatural carnal copulation for compensation,” disproportionately affecting queer and trans survival sex workers. It focuses on Cooper, who serves as executive director of TRANScending Women, Milan Nicole Sherry, House of Tulip co-director, and other trans activists.

This month’s Spotlight Star, Mariah Moore, lives her life mantra to the fullest each and every day (and does it with style). "Anything is possible. Never give up and continue to press on even when you don’t think someone is watching." As Co-deputy Director of Policy and Programs at the Transgender Law Center and the Founder/Executive Director of the non-profit organization, House of Tulip, she is leading efforts to provide trans and gender-nonconforming communities with stability and safety.

Mariah Moore, 32, New Orleans

Activist, co-director of House of Tulip, national organizer with the Transgender Law Center

Moore is co-director of House of Tulip, a visionary land trust in New Orleans for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness

Joslyn Allen, Jaslene Busanet and Eden Estrada weren't fearing for their safety after a night out on Hollywood Boulevard in mid-August. The three friends, all popular influencers on Instagram, were exiting a store in the early hours of Aug. 17 when cellphone video caught a violent, unprovoked attack against them.

When the pandemic hit New Orleans, Mariah Moore knew that vulnerable members of her community couldn’t wait for stimulus checks.

The 32-year-old organizer and other trans activists launched an emergency Covid crisis fund, raising more than $20,000 for transgender and gender-nonconforming Louisianans at risk – sex workers, the newly unemployed, undocumented residents, unhoused people and others on the margins.

NEW ORLEANS — A group of transgender activists are working to open a shelter for homeless trans and gender non-conforming people in New Orleans.

Milan Nicole Sherry, co-director of House of Tulip, told the Washington Blade on July 27 during an interview at her Uptown New Orleans home that she expects the shelter will open in the city next spring or summer.

House of Tulip was born as a response to the homelessness crisis in Louisiana that disproportionately affects trans and gender-nonconforming individuals. Drawing on their own experiences, innovative community members came up with the idea of a housing project specifically aimed at trans and gender-nonconforming people who are having difficulties finding a stable living situation.

As the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March, Mariah Moore and Milan Nicole Sherry helped coordinate the TGNC Crisis Funding Circle, a relief fund for trans and gender non-comforming people in Louisiana. Trans activists Dylan Borne, Spirit McIntyre and Dylan Waguespack also co-managed the fund, which raised around $20,000 through GoFundMe and redistributed those donations back to local TGNC folks facing tightening expenses during the pandemic.

The House of Tulip, a community land trust, has been fundraising to buy property in Louisiana that can be converted into safe housing for homeless transgender and gender non-conforming people.

A plan is underway to buy a small batch of rundown houses along North Claiborne Avenue in the 8th Ward and convert them into living space for homeless transgender and gender non-conforming people. The $1 million project, called the House of Tulip, would be the first of its kind in the country.

Ever since Perriviia “Black Butterfly” Brown moved into her Memphis, Tennessee, apartment in 2015, she has been afraid to sit on her front porch. A Black transgender woman who is partially blind, Brown said she doesn’t feel safe in her neighborhood. She said she often deals with transphobic abuse when she ventures to the nearby grocery store.

Earlier this month, as companies and brands scrambled to respond to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, they decided to postpone or forego Pride campaigns altogether. Essentially, they acted as if the Movement for Black Lives and the LGBTQ+ Movement were at odds with each other. But the last few weeks have shown that it’s time for a massive prioritization and resourcing of the Black trans community.

On Monday, June 22, a group of local and national transgender activists and leaders hosted a community announcement/town hall event at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans. This group, known as the Founders Circle of House of Tulip, announced a brand-new initiative aimed at creating housing solutions for TGNC (transgender and gender non-conforming) people in New Orleans.