The Brooklyn Rail

Transgenders Push Past Pageantry, Into Advocacy

In a recent performance, Natalie Isaac donned a huge white dress she sewed that fit nine members of her non-profit transgender advocacy group under it. To Rihanna’s song “Umbrella,” the group came out from under the gown and opened umbrellas that said “Transgender Umbrella” in red glitter. Isaac wore the same skimpy outifit, wig, fishnets, and enormous hoop earrings that she once wore to win transgender beauty pageants. But now she is dressing up to fundraise for New York Trans Empowerment (nyte), an organization she co-founded seven months ago to advocate for transgender rights.