On a hot night in New York City, Ludlow Studios in Manhattan’s Chinatown opened its doors to transgender men and women, allies and activists, friends and family and folks looking for an evening of entertainment.
Summer Luk, an intern at GLAAD, curated and hosted “Trans Talent,” a fundraising event held late last month to benefit the National Center for Transgender Equality.
It brought together genderqueer writer and performer Jacob Tobia, spoken word poet Trace Peterson, rapper Jesse Sgambati, standup comic Tammy Twotone, and Luk, a musician, singer and composer.
Luk’s goal, according to a post on GLAAD’s website, was “to create a space where performance and community could merge by shining a spotlight on the talent and gifts that trans people have to offer.”
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Applause rebounded from the studio walls after Peterson read from a poem that comically detailed her hormone therapy.
Tobia told stories and rocked the house singing Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.”
The beat picked up a pace when Jesse Sgambati performed three songs, including Lifeline.
Comic Tammy Twotone followed with a set that had the audience rolling with laughter.
Then Rebecca Kling of NCTE led the crowd in a participatory storytelling exercise.
Luk closed the show with an emotional performance of three original songs, including her debut single, I Am A Girl.
More than 100 people attended. All proceeds benefited NCTE, the nation’s leading social justice non-profit organization, working to reduce discrimination and violence and increase opportunities for transgender people throughout the United States.
Photographers Efrain Gonzalez and Ames Beckerman contributed their pictures from the August 26th event.
Ames Beckerman Photography 
