About the East County Queer & Trans Coalition

A brief history:
The East County Queer and Trans Coalition started in early 2023 in response to the transphobic incident at the Santee YMCA.
We joined a collective of students, advocates, parents and teachers concerned about actions in East County School districts. We held a TDOV event in the park to great success even as anti-trans sentiments were growing in the wake of the 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, perpetrated days before the TDOV. Our organization was invited to participate in GLSEN’s GSA Awards and La Mesa’s Juneteenth celebration. We participated in the first Santee Pride Walk, organized by the Santee United Methodist Church.

We marched for our first time in San Diego Pride and even had a community member donate a lifted pick-up truck to the organization for use in the parade. We were joined by the La-Mesa Foothills Democratic Club and members of the community. That weekend we hosted our first “East County House Down Boots” pride party throughout pride weekend in La Mesa with an after-party following the parade and a brunch on Sunday morning and barbeque in the afternoon.

As we looked towards 2024, we started committees to plan the revival of the San Diego Dyke March, as well as School Board Advocacy and “Queer the Vote” initiatives. While there was interest, it was difficult to sustain committees with volunteers from the community. After a contentious GUHSD board meeting and attacks from extremists and alt-right community groups, through the end of 2023 we took a step back and planned for 2024. In this time we launched a transphonia and homophobia tipline where community members could report incidents of hate, as well as a survey to record community member's experiences and concerns and identify how we can best serve the community.

In 2024, we held our second TDOV Cook-OUT in the park and co-hosted a vigil for Nex Benedict. Much of our planning capacity was applied towards reviving San Diego’s Dyke March. We again supported GLSEN’s GSA awards, and participated in both the Santee Pride Walk and Ramona Pride.

We received San Diego Pride’s Spirit of Stonewall Service Award and had a featured contingent in the San Diego Pride Parade. Our contingent’s community participation doubled from the previous year. We held a second annual House Down Boots on the Sunday following the parade. On the Friday after pride, in collaboration with Surje Coffee in El Cajon and the East County Art Association, we held “Cream & Latte Love,” hosted by Whorita Whorcata, possibly the first drag revue in El Cajon’s history. It was a sold out event.

The San Diego Dyke March was held on November 17th, 2024, in its 30th anniversary year, after a 15 year dormancy. A week and a half after a devastating election, around 100 dykes turned up at the Rail to march, rally, express themselves and be seen, marching in the street down University to the Hillcrest Pride Flag. There was one detractor that tried to evangelize along the way, but the march was unobstructed and cheered from the sides.

We resolved to continue in 2025.

In February 2025, the East County Queer & Trans Coalition recieved a Hillcrest Honor for "Fabulous Community Activist" for our work in East County. While we've been at it now for years, we're only just getting started.

We welcome interested community members to reach out to us via email or on instagram if you would like to uplift our efforts to make East County a more safe and welcoming community for us all!

Contact

Support ECQTCo!

Home • Mission • QT Sunrise Flag • About


-Back to Top-