Why Are So Many Trans People Into Urban Planning?
Trans people are often advocates of radical transit and urbanist policy—Katelyn Burns investigates why.
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If you’ve spent any time online with a bunch of trans women, you may have come across the “trans on trains” meme. The bit goes like this: be a trans woman, snap a selfie during your train ride, and then post it online. The similarity between the word “trans” and the words “trains” or “transit” has become fertile comedy ground for trans people online for a generation.
Pictures of cargo trailers with a company name ending in “trans” are easy fodder to get likes on trans social media.
But alongside the memes and jokes, wherever I go online, I see trans people pairing their transit puns with hardcore transit and urbanist advocacy. While not ubiquitous amongst trans people, it feels like trans people have a predisposition for transit advocacy. Others have noticed as well. The popular urbanist YouTuber Ray Delahanty, perhaps better known by his YouTube handle “CityNerd,” noted the high number of trans people into transit systems and housing planning a few months ago on BlueSky.