Salinas transgender woman speaks on her experience being part of the LGBTQ+ community

SALINAS Calif. (KION) - The month of June is celebrated nationally as pride month. Meant to encourage acceptance, while also recognizing the uphill battle members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to face.

"It's scary to walk down in the streets alone because I don't know what's going to happen," says Tahani Lopez a transgender woman living in Salinas.

She says for the most part her experience with the transition was met with open arms by family members but recalls moments when others didn’t.

"I remember one time when I was celebrating my 18th birthday and my guy asked me a really weird question. And when I responded to the question, he was mad because I was I'm a dude," says Lopez.

According to a study done by the University of California Los Angeles transgender people are four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violence.

The mayor of Monterey who is also a part of the LGBTQ+ community recognizes the staggering statistics on the hardships they face but still wants to make Monterey a safe place for them.

"Being part of the LGBTQ community is a challenge because there's not only societal norms that we deal with outside of our families, but we also deal with them within our families. I look at a lot of kids these days and they grow up in households where they don't even feel safe being who they are at home," says Tyller Williamson, Mayor of Monterey.

The president of an organization that supports transgender people wants to see a difference in our society.

"Doing visibility in our society to improve our service, to improve everything that we need as a community, as a trans community," says Jaime Arangure CEO/President of Proyecto Trans Latina.

Lopez says she wants an end to the stereotypes that affect people like her.

"We're not a threat to anyone, we're not here to cause any problems and we're just trying to live our authentic selves," says Lopez.

The City of Monterey will be celebrating pride on July 15th. Mayor Williamson says this year's theme is "living" to embrace acceptance.