In favor of healthcare for trans youth

With Mayor Bowser’s administration ending in 2026 at the end of his current third term, many will be analyzing the past 12 years. What’s interesting to me about this period is that in 2026, Team Rayceen Productions will have been around for 12 years. We’ve been through six primaries, five pivotal production failures, four personnel issues, three presidents, two presidential impeachments, a pandemic, and we’re still here.

Although our creed is “For the People,” TRP (Team Rayceen Productions) is essentially a one-man band. While Racine Pendarvis is a well-known host and respected leader in the community, and TRP has talented co-hosts and valued volunteers who work both administratively and creatively on everything from billing and graphics to selecting interview guests and event performers, I run the show. This can be daunting, as is the large number of volunteers and staff at many community groups and local LGBTQ organizations who take on multiple responsibilities while struggling with limited funding, resources, and institutional support.

After being disappointed (not shocked or surprised) by the results of the 2024 presidential election, I abandoned my dreams and plans for TRP under the Harris Administration, stepped back from my creative duties, and activated Plan B, which was to continue TRP’s annual winter hiatus indefinitely. I correctly predicted that events would be canceled, funding would not be available, and overall 2025 would be a dark year.

Having stopped working on the Team Rayceen YouTube channel, I realized that this one aspect of my responsibility was essentially an unpaid, full-time job, especially since I was interviewing with so many candidates during the election season. I was a producer, director, editor, and booking agent. I did everything except interview the guests in front of the camera. Five years of creating videos and live streams was exhausting. That didn’t happen and I had the rare experience of having free time in 2025. I’ve read more books in less than 10 months than I’ve read in the last 10 years.

Throughout the year, I not only continued my duties as TRP administrator and archivist, but also remained Raysen’s de facto manager, agent, publicist, and speechwriter. By the summer, I somewhat reluctantly resumed some of TRP’s creative work when I was offered a collaboration with Arena Stage. In the fall, TRP also returned to the Art All Night Show and organized an LGBTQ town hall.

Going forward, I have decided to recalibrate the role of TRP. Our hiatus has officially ended and we are now prioritizing collaboration and supporting other organizations. I call this “Team Rayceen Agenda for Community Engagement.” Its acronym is “TRACE” and it is an overview of priorities for the new year.

Current priorities within the LGBTQ community include:

• Increase and improve communication and collaboration among LGBTQ organizations and groups, including new and small organizations.

• Honoring LGBTQ Elders

• Increase and strengthen intergenerational bonds among LGBTQ people

• Welcome and engage with members of the local LGBTQ community who are new to their identities, geographic regions, and adulthood.

• Creating a database for booking local LGBTQ performers, DJs, and photographers.

We would like to partner with various organizations on the following topics:

• Increase voter registration, education, and participation.

• Inform voters about candidates as well as proposed legislation and ballot measures through community listening sessions, candidate debates, forums, and interviews.

• Find ways to foster allyship by creating events that focus on transgender people, are inclusive, and promote LGBTQ allyship.

• Organize efforts to integrate different demographic groups, including the Black community and the API community, creating opportunities for dialogue, exchange, and collaboration.

• Create new regional awards to celebrate and recognize seniors, youth, performers, content creators and event organizers.

My advocacy for Raysen Pendarvis will continue.

• Increase in bookings for hosting and moderators

• Actor roles and cameos in movies, TV series, web series, commercials, and music videos.

• Music recording opportunities as a featured vocalist or backing vocalist

(If you are interested in the above content, please contact us by email.)

I am hopeful that these things are achievable and that if we can get the right people together we can take action quickly. I think people in this region are ready for change. This year, not only is the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change Conference held in Washington, D.C., but the Capital Pride Alliance (CPA) also has new leadership on its board of directors. Talented people have become staff members of the CPA, the Mayor’s Office for LGBTQ Issues, etc. And qualified people are running for positions that lead or represent D.C. residents in open or competitive races.

For these reasons, I feel that perhaps DC, including the LGBTQ community, will not become a kakistocracy, plutocracy, oligarchy, and/or elderocracy. I’m not so sure about the federal government. Let’s see how long the TRP lasts beyond 12 years, and how long the US lasts beyond 250 years, if indeed the latter exists in any meaningful form now during this fascist regime.

I have worked with Team Rayceen Productions for about 12 years. This includes organizing numerous special events, including two Black History Month programs and two town hall discussions. We held three At-Large City Council candidate forums online in 2020. We produced the Rayceen Reading Room for the DC Public Library for four years in a row. Artomatic has produced four variety shows. We have been involved with both Silver Pride and the now-defunct Outright LGBTQ Literature Festival for five years. We have supported Districts of Pride for six years. We produced seven Art All Night programs and partnered with Story District for seven years for the annual Out/Spoken event. We produced the last eight seasons of “The Ask Rayceen Show” (2012-2021) and ten social mixers (Rayceen, Fix Me Up!). We’ve created multiple live stream series and over 900 YouTube videos. without large investors. C’est la vie.

Most amazingly, I made it through all of last year and am still here.

saar He is the anonymous founder of Team Rayceen Productions, a community advocate, consultant, songwriter, and lifelong resident of the Capital Region.