Cheryl Courtney-Evans
Cheryl Courtney-Evans was born in Kansas City in 1952. Her exceptional intellect during high school permitted her to be accepted into Harvard University in the 1970’s.
Cheryl moved to Atlanta, GA in the 1980’s when trans people were still being often ignored and when noticed, stigmatized, and discriminated against.
Police brutality and homelessness plagued Cheryl. Yet inspired her to become an advocate. She became engaged with LaGender. At that time La Gender, Inc. was a nonprofit organization led by African-American trans women that empowers, and lifts up the spirits of transgender woman of color in the metro Atlanta area with the goal to provide housing for transwomen living with HIV.
The passion led her to found Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth (TILTT) in 2007. That included her blog, “A Bitch for Justice”. And lobby in D.C. for transgender rights.
One of the more than 48,000 panels on the NAMES Project quilt is for Cheryl. In 2019, Georgia Equality created an award in her name: The Cheryl Courtney-Evans Award for Advocacy. “A transgender individual that demonstrate effective workings through advocacy to create change. The award recipient is passionate about the needs of the transgender and non-binary community and take every opportunity to place these issues on the forefront for social change.”
She was named a Grand Marshal for the 2016 Atlanta Pride Parade. Sadly, she passed before she was able to participate.
This is part of Cheryl’s legacy. Women’s History Month is about remembering ALL women’s contributions.