Meet Sin Black, Community Organizer Empowering LA’s Trans Community
Her Black Rainbow events are more than parties—they’re sanctuaries of inclusion and celebration.
If you’re trans and in Los Angeles, you’re probably attending Sin Black’s Black Rainbow event series — or, at least, you’ve been meaning to. Be it at her weekly TRANScendent Tuesdays at the Ruby Fruit wine bar in Silverlake, the monthly Second Puberty at Little Joy in Echo Park, or parties like Gender Blender, Black Rainbow connects all of us gender-expansive Angelenos to our communal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Sin describes Black Rainbow as “Trans-led, Trans-first Queer community spaces for the LGBTQIA2S+ family.” Events like Second Puberty, which has become a smash hit, aim to let trans folks “relive the era of Myspace, pop-punk and nu-metal — the right way this time.” Gender Blender provides a playful daytime alternative to nightlife, with special icebreaker games “sure to make finding new friends and flirtations fun and effortless!”
On meeting her, you may be asked about how you’re doing, receive a compliment on your outfit, hear a declaration on the urgency of a free Palestine, and be introduced to your next lover — and be informed several times of her autism and ADHD — all in a single sentence. This multi-pronged greeting will likely end with Sin’s signature line:
“Hi! I’m Sin, like a crime against God.”
Forgive her not, for this sinner knows exactly what she does. Every Black Rainbow event uplifts trans and gender-expansive creatives, from resident DJs like LaGata Mata to vendors selling everything from ceramics to harnesses. Sin makes each gathering a sanctuary of “unbridled Trans and Queer Joy,” while also amplifying social justice causes. She ends each newsletter with: “LAND BACK. FREE PALESTINE. TRANS POWER.”
Speaking for us all, Black Rainbow photographer C.C. Cope declares Sin “seems to live and breathe being a hostess.” Let’s get to know this powerful trans woman in all her multitudes: vibrant community-builder, brilliant event producer, political visionary, and self-described Mother to LA’s queer and trans family.
Rapid Fire
JOSIE: Your big three Zodiac.
SIN: Mother Crab Sun, Friendly Fish Rising, Cerebral Yet Raging Sniper (Sagittarius) Moon.
JOSIE: Your favorite Black trans figure.
I’m not sure if we’re actually allowed to call Marsha P. Johnson “Trans” because she called herself gay and a drag queen in a time before “Transgender” language took root. But she’s the first name that comes up for me.
JOSIE: Your first celebrity crush.
SIN: Jessica Rabbit — who, in true TranSapphic fashion, I also aspire to be.
JOSIE: Your favorite trans comedian.
SIN: My friend Robin Tran! (and she says onstage, of her name: “Yes, that is a coincidence”).
JOSIE: Your most and least beloved tarot cards.
SIN: Astrologically I’m the Queen of Cups, but I also identify with The High Priestess, and we should all aspire to The Fool. Of course nobody likes to see The Tower or the X of Swords, but the IX of Swords is arguably worse.
JOSIE: What’s your romantic type?
SIN: You call this a rapid fire?? I’m primarily fem4fem and tend to be drawn toward the same types I aspire toward. But I’m having a minor fem4masc moment right now, if you can construe anything I’m doing as “dating,” which is questionable. In the grand scheme I’m looking for a truly awake, enlightened being who shares my balance of silly absurdity and deadly serious mission-driven vision.
Using Life Experience as Fuel
JOSIE: So for some background. How does your personal lived experience fuel your tireless trans community-building?
SIN: Before I started coming out at almost 32, for many years I was deeply lost and not living congruently with my true core values. I sit with this every day and try to use it as fuel toward doing the most good I can do with the time I have left.
JOSIE: Share a key moment.
SIN: A moment that helped me see where my efforts were best spent was at my very first Black Rainbow event, Second Puberty, when a friend told me: “I’ve never felt so safe or so welcome.”
JOSIE: How does your community-building contribute to your own personal growth?
Working to serve the community has been the most rewarding project I’ve ever undertaken. I feel so unbelievably grateful that I get to do this and that I seem to be pretty good at it and making some kind of difference for people. That would be more than enough, but it’s also enriched my own life with so many amazing new friends whom I’ve connected with at my own events — like you.
What it’s like Attending a Black Rainbow Event
JOSIE: Walk us through a typical Black Rainbow event. Who/what/where/why/how?
SIN: For me the goal is always to offer as many guests as I can a warm, personal welcome; to make everyone feel safe, seen, and valued; and to make it as easy as possible for folks to make real, lasting connections. Because we need each other.
JOSIE: Tell us about your recurring events, as of Feb 2024.
SIN: At TRANScendent Tuesdays @ The Ruby Fruit, which runs weekly from 5PM to close, we have $5 dinner specials; an outdoor mini-market of gender-expansive vendors; and an icebreaker game I run continuously to help people learn about each other. It’s a laid-back, wholesome vibe at LA’s only Sapphic-owned bar and restaurant, who have a wonderful menu and have been great allies.
SECOND PUBERTY is a Trans-centric Queer nostalgia party on the fourth Sunday of every month at Little Joy Cocktails in Echo Park. Each time, we do a different era theme — 90s, 80s, Y2K — because more than anyone, we deserve to relive our youths, the right way this time. It’s more of a dance party, and while Little Joy is not Queer-owned, they host Q/T events every “Sungay” and have several amazing Sapphic bartenders.
Intersectionality at Black Rainbow Events
JOSIE: Describe 3 ways you ensure your events address and honor intersectionality within the trans community.
SIN: 1) Well first, I have a three-page document of Trans Sensitivity Guidelines I send to venues, and a shorter, friendlier version I send to vendors and event staff who are themselves community members.
2) Another element is signaling. When I give my welcome speeches, I always include explicit politics and always will. I end with “Land Back, Free Palestine, Trans Power.” Lately I also invite the community to chant that last one back with me. And in general with my language and presence, I make the values of the space clear-cut as an anti-racist, anti-capitalist, Leftist environment.
3) When it comes to selecting vendors and event staff, I only bring in gender-expansive people, and I prioritize multiple-marginalized folks whenever possible. You never want to tokenize anyone, of course, but you do want to offer opportunities to folks who most need them and benefit the most.
JOSIE: What are some gaps and opportunities to bridge them?
As far as gaps, the Q/T community in LA overall is tragically very segregated. Part of this is structural to LA as a whole, which is intentionally designed to engender segregation via say, dismantling/limiting of public transit options.
JOSIE: So what do we as trans community builders do?
Part of it is, I think, that we need more collaboration between space holders of different experiences. It’s of course great and important for each marginalized bloc to have spaces of their own, but we also need spaces for vibrant cross-pollination. This is one of the next goals I plan to zero in on.
Trans Community Formation
JOSIE: What social structures need to be in place for trans community to form? How do trans communities differ in urban vs rural, coastal vs inland settings?
SIN: Safe, supportive physical spaces. I keep saying that we’re lucky “the right Lesbians” opened LA’s first Sapphic bar in years, with a “NO T*RFS” sign on the bathroom. Because if the wrong Lesbians opened it, a dangerous tone could be set in this town for years.
JOSIE: Creating and maintaining trans spaces is crucial for the trans community. What strategies do you suggest for ensuring the sustainability of these spaces, especially in the face of economic and social pressures?
SIN: Sustainability is hard. We as a bloc don’t have a lot of disposable income. The approach that’s working for me right now is to keep costs extremely low by doing things that are straightforward and fun but don’t demand a lot of resources. I’d like to start moving toward more ambitious production value, but that’s going to take more collaboration. And I’m constantly trying to think of ways to siphon funds and resources away from cis people, toward Trans people.
The Power of IRL Trans Spaces
JOSIE: I personally encounter far more discourse about online trans community. Your real-life, IRL trans community-building strikes me as unique and vital — especially when so many of us remain stuck at home all day. What makes IRL trans spaces special?
SIN: In-person Trans spaces are special because they’re rare. As a result, they’re also special because they’re full of people who really want and need to be there.
I hope my spaces have very little in common with online discourse. Although I’m a born “poster” and online culture was a lifeline for me over many years, online Trans discourse runs into reductive and toxic pitfalls about as often as any other online discourse. In online Trans culture, I’ve seen both the most beautiful and the most horrifying things.
JOSIE: How do you think your community building and support IRL differs from that of online trans spaces?
SIN: So I think a crucial way my spaces differ from that is that I’m aiming for a safe, wholesome vibe and trying to specifically get people out of their shells (ayo) and out of their heads and out of their bedrooms. I want to foster the sense of safety and support required for people to take the real emotional risk of letting themselves be vulnerable with new friends in the physical world. This is extra hard for us, and that’s why it’s extra necessary.
Escaping the Matrix
JOSIE: How have trans/gender non-conforming communities existed in the distant past?
SIN: SIN: Transgender people are, and have always been, the spiritual vanguard of the human species. We are naturally blessed with a plurality of perspective and have, since the very first civilization in Mesopotamia, been recognized in most pre-colonial cultures as natural-born shamans, healers, and visionaries. The Sumerian goddess Inanna chose Her priestesses by Transitioning them.
JOSIE: How will trans communities shape our collective human future?
We represent a distilled microcosm of the journey of self-actualization that the rest of humanity should be learning from, rather than running from. Every Trans person, just by living, is a shining beacon of hope who should be seen by those around them as an inspiration. Every Trans person, just by living, proves that there is hope for all people, everywhere.
JOSIE: Elaborate a little on how we inspire the world, or at least have the capacity to do so.
SIN: Transgender justice is humanity’s last and only hope for redemption. Capitalism is quite literally trying to exterminate a natural class of enlightened beings who are waking up from its most foundational set of lies: that there are only two kinds of people; that one is good and strong, the other bad and weak;; and that these two must keep making babies together for the system to extract value from.
JOSIE: This sounds a little familiar haha…
SIN: The Matrix is literally true: we are programmed from birth with a false version of reality to make us more efficient batteries for capitalism. And the films’ prescription is equally accurate: if you wake up and see the binary code underneath it all, you have a moral responsibility to wake others up to it.
Further Resources
JOSIE: Recommend a few resources to trans readers and to non-trans readers.
SIN: The most important Trans journalism in the US right now is Erin Reed’s “Erin in the Morning” newsletter where she documents all the ups and downs (mostly downs…) of the Trans genocide this country is constructing and perpetrating right now.
JOSIE: How can we get to know you even better?
SIN: All of my projects and content can be found via SinistraBlack.com, including writings on gender, pop culture, and spirituality that I post on Instagram, Facebook, Substack, etc. But the best way to get to know me better is to come out to one of my upcoming events (after my FFS recovery), and walk right up me and say hello. It will be my honor and my privilege to welcome you.
Concluding Threats to Western Civilization
Sin Black is a force to be reckoned with. When I asked Sin why the hell the mainstream U.S. hates us with such rigor, vim, vigor, she declares the truth of truths: “The reason they’re waging war on us right now is that they know we are going to win. When they say trans people are a threat to Western civilization, they are correct.”
As a multiracial, Neurodivergent, queer and transgender community leader, Sin’s lived experience and perspective leads her to put her money where her mouth is. And in a time of confounding hatreds toward our community, to witness the grace, empathy, and humor — she’s fucking funny.
This is more than event hosting. It’s political activism at its most vibrant. Sin is weaving a social fabric of “Trans-led, gender-expansive culture” that has the power to reshape LA’s cultural landscape. Her newsletters capture it best: “Everybody Dance!! We’re letting our Le Freak flags fly — and reclaiming the dance floor as a sanctuary of love, acceptance, and unbridled Trans and Queer Joy!!”
Trans empowerment is empowerment for all. This woman’s work transcends far beyond the “hostess” label — Sin’s work more akin to community organizer in a political sense.
Cantiq’s Chelsea Hughes sums it up: “Her advocacy for the gender expansive community is unmatched,” Hughes declares, impressed by Sin’s uncommon knack for community-building — community Hughes describes as having “deeper connections and bonds than anyone could imagine.”
The buzz is real. Sin Black: an infinite light in our communities and beyond. Whether trans, non-trans, queer, whatever else there is — get to know Sin Black, and do it now.
And if you are trans and/or queer, we’ll C U Next Tuesday at Ruby Fruit for TRANScendent Tuesdays, and at Little Joy on the 4th Sunday of each month for Second Puberty. Follow Black Rainbow’s instagram for further details, and stay tuned for Sin Black’s world takeover.
Sin and Black Rainbow are just getting started. As she would say: LAND BACK. FREE PALESTINE. TRANS POWER.
