STATE COLLEGE — On a cold, overcast second day of the new year, a small crowd gathered at the Allen Street Gates with a simple message for Centre County’s trans community: You are not alone.
The Jan. 2 rally, billed as “New Year, Still Here,” was organized by Centre LGBT+ as federal and state-level debates over transgender rights and gender-affirming care continue to intensify.
“This is all about community, connection, togetherness,” said Michelle Lee Garrett, chair of the board of Centre LGBT+. “It’s been a hard damn year for our trans community, for our queer community, for our friends and family and allies and loved ones. And despite the best attempts of the forces who stand against us, we are still people here.”
Garrett told the crowd she worries most about trans people who are navigating fear and uncertainty without support systems.
“When we say that we always will exist, it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to lose people along the way,” she said, describing her own struggles over the past year and emphasizing that others are facing the moment alone. “The trans kids growing up terrified right now deserve to know that they are not alone.”
Garrett also urged attendees to stay engaged, even when it feels exhausting. “It is already hard to show up, and it’s even harder to continue showing up again and again and again,” she said. “But we do.”
State College Mayor Ezra Nanes, speaking as both an elected official and a parent, framed the rally as a statement of what local government can choose to be.
“I believe in the power of government to do good,” Nanes said. “My intention for 2026 is to honor dignity in everything I do. And standing up for trans rights, the rights of non-binary and gender expansive people is honoring dignity because everybody has a right to be accepted for who they are.”
Nanes pointed to State College Borough Council’s transgender sanctuary city resolution as a values statement and argued that policies targeting trans people fail a basic test.
“When you see the actions of a government… ask yourself, how is that doing good? How is it helping? What good is it creating?” he said. “And if it’s causing harm… is that something that our government should be doing?”
State Rep. Paul Takac told the crowd he sees 2026 as a moment to recommit to the nation’s ideals.
“Sadly, we’ve never lived up to it,” Takac said. But, he added, it must remain “our North Star.”
Takac criticized what he called deliberate scapegoating of trans and gender-diverse people, and said allies have a responsibility to be visible not just at rallies, but “every single day” in homes, churches and public spaces. He said he plans to reintroduce anti-bullying legislation in Harrisburg that would require school districts to explicitly include non-binary, gender-diverse and trans students in their anti-bullying policies.
“It’s very unlikely to come up even for a vote,” he said, “however, there’s still a reason for doing it. It is an assertion of what we fundamentally believe.”
Cecil Houseknecht, a community educator with Centre LGBT+, told the crowd visibility and education remain among the most effective tools against discrimination.
“Visibility, representation… still remains one of the most important tools we have for combating the discriminatory, anti-trans rhetoric,” Houseknecht said, describing how many people he meets have never knowingly spoken with a trans person about their experiences.
Houseknecht also shared his own journey, saying that support from family, friends, teachers and doctors helped him access resources that allowed him to live authentically.
“All of those culminated into the ability of me being able to stand here today… and telling you all that I love myself,” he said. But he added that many trans people still face barriers to medical care, support and even basic acceptance at school.
Between speakers, the crowd chanted: “Trans rights are human rights,” and “Trans kids deserve to live.”
As the rally wrapped up, Garrett encouraged people to take immediate action by scanning QR codes at the event table to send letters opposing proposed anti-trans policies, and she urged attendees to speak up in daily life when they hear anti-trans rhetoric.
“You don’t have to start a fight,” she said. “But you can say, ‘I know trans people, I love trans people. That’s not true.’ There is power in doing that… every single time.”
A final speaker, Katie Nurmin, urged allies to accept discomfort as part of the work, and to lead with love rather than anger. She encouraged small, practical steps that signal safety to young people and announced two showings of the documentary “1946” on Jan. 14 at the State College Presbyterian Church.
By the end, Garrett returned to the rally’s central message: the fight is local as well as national, and community is how people get through the dark stretches.
“If nothing else today,” she said, “I hope that you see that we are not alone, that we are together… and that Centre LGBT+ will be here, will continue to stand up, will continue to act up, and will continue to fight back.”
