After more than five years as executive director for Trans=Action, an Atlanta transgender advocacy group, Monica Helms resigned effective Feb. 1 to pursue other interests.
"Trans=Action has a lot of other good people involved with it, so I felt that it was time for me to move on and let somebody else take my place," Helms said.
Helms said her biggest reason for leaving is her involvement with the Transgender American Veterans Association, for which she serves as founding president. Helms said she also considered working as a transgender rights consultant to organizations and companies.
"I feel that my expertise of having about seven and a half to eight years of activism that I could provide independent information for various organizations," Helms said. She will align herself with other organizations and lobby for equal rights "when it’s necessary," Helms added.
Under Helms’ tenure, Trans= Action increased its visibility through projects including hosting the annual Day of Remembrance to honor transgender victims of violence; meeting with Atlanta police to discuss treatment of transgender citizens; and addressing a city homelessness task force to discuss biases transgender people face in local shelters.
But Helms said much work remains in the fight for transgender equality.
"We’ve tried to do a few things, and some of the things that we have not accomplished also say a lot about the state of Georgia," she said.
Helms pointed to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s unwillingness to allow pre-operative transgender people to change the sex indication on driver’s licenses, and also cited Atlanta’s homeless shelters, which she said continue to deny access to transgender women.
Rev. Paul Turner, spokesperson for Trans=Action, praised Helms’ leadership of the group.
"Trans=Action would not be where we are today and [have] accomplished the things that we have had it not been for Monica’s drive and desire to see justice and equality for the transgender community," he said.
The group’s board of directors dissolved the unpaid executive director position, but the board plans to continue moving forward its vision and mission, Turner said.
