President Trump's comments on gender raises concerns in Bay Area's transgender community
Jan 20, 2025
Dancer Richelle Armijo, whose stage name is Riri Realness, said that she’s finally fully living as her authentic self.
The 22 year old dancer from Fairfield was born biologically male, but she said little Ricky always knew how they looked on the outside didn’t match how they felt on the inside.
“I think about little Ricky all the time, because he had to go through so much in this little town to just find himself and be who she is today,” Armijo said.
Armijo began transitioning to female when she was 18, documenting it all on social media.
“I was like, why not include my transitional journey on social media as well?” Armijo said. “I know there are probably so many kids in the Bay who are struggling to express themselves but can’t.”
But as Trump took office on Monday, Riri is worried. The president announced in his inaugural speech that, “as of today, it’ll be the official policy that there are two genders male and female.”
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“If I’m presenting fully feminine as a woman and my ID says male, that could put my whole life at risk. I could get super injured. I could get kidnapped,” Armijo said.
Riri said changing her gender on her IDs was liberating, but she fears the progress the transgender community has made is now at serious risk. She believes gender is a spectrum and that Trump has it wrong by limiting identity to just two genders.
“Just like there’s more than black-and-white, there’s more than just tall and short there’s everything in between,” Armijo said. “There’s a whole spectrum of different types of life.”
Armijo said that she will continue to speak and live her truth and she’s encouraging others to do the same, insisting the transgender community will not return to the shadows.
“This is who I am 24/7. I don’t just put the make up and hair on at night time. I live my life as a woman 24/7 and I just want to exist,” Armijo said. “I just want to be here, make people happy, make myself happy and hopefully positively impact everyone I come across.”