In 2015, after coming out as transgender at the start of 7th grade, 12-year-old Landon Richie traveled to Austin from Houston with his parents to speak to his representatives about the obstacles he faced as a trans kid. An onslaught of anti-LGBTQ bills had been filed, including ones that would allow businesses to refuse service to LGBTQ people on the basis of religion. “It’s a daunting thing to be so open and vulnerable with your story in front of people you’ve never met, and that are in positions of power,” says Richie, now 18.
At the time, Richie had been participating in Taekwondo for seven years, with instructors that supported him through his transition. He played the trumpet in the honor band and he used graphite and colored pencils to draw portraits and still lives, even winning a state art competition. But more and more of his time became consumed by advocating against anti-trans legislation in his home state.
In high school, instead of worrying about Friday night football games, Richie says his attention was on fighting for his rights at the Capitol. In 2017, he returned to Austin to testify against the “bathroom bills,” which would have banned trans people from accessing restrooms and locker rooms that matched their gender identity. He was also vocal about his opposition on social media, and as a 14-year-old, started “receiving death threats from adults on the internet, detailing the ways that they wanted to see my family die,” he says. “It affected my focus in class and how I felt about myself, even though I knew that none of what these people were saying was true.”
