Fae Osborne Interview

Fae Osborne

Originally from Bainbridge Island, Washington, Fae Osborne has lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of her life and has called Tacoma home for the last three years. She began transitioning in 2022 in the midst of a sharp increase in anti-trans rhetoric and legislation within the United States, which inspired her to enter the world of queer advocacy. Her work has focused on supporting survivors of domestic violence, the LGBTQIA2S+ youth mental health crisis, and queer community building. She uses She/they pronouns and identifies as a trans intersex lesbian.

Fae’s entrance to the world of queer advocacy began when Scripps News asked her to share her story and speak on the LGBTQIA2S+ youth mental health crisis for National Suicide Awareness Month. Having never seen anyone like herself represented in public media before, and with her personal connection to the issue, she felt it was critically important to speak out and show her face on national television. From there, she was interviewed by Buzzfeed News regarding the recent sale of Twitter to Elon Musk. Fae was able to speak about the impact this had not just on herself but on the entire trans community online. With the sale, it effectively killed the trans community spaces of Twitter and severely reduced access to online trans community, education, and lifelines.

Upon moving to Tacoma, she joined the Pierce County YWCA Associate Board to advocate for other queer survivors of domestic violence and served as their treasurer for a year. As time progressed, Fae felt progressively more isolated by her University’s culture of permissiveness toward the harassment of transfeminine students. In response, she used her growing platform to challenge the Office of Title IX’s stance on the issue and successfully persuaded student government to institute new trans-specific anti-discrimination education for the upcoming academic year.

Fae’s involvement and accomplishments within queer advocacy snowballed from there. She walked in the first annual “Revolt for Joy” pride fashion show, was an expert speaker on the University of Washington Tacoma’s first Transgender Day of Remembrance advocacy panel, served as Washington Legislative District 27’s lead Advocate for Trans Day of Advocacy 2025, worked with Dr. Ever Jones to host the University of Washington’s first-ever Trans Day of Visibility event1, and became the first trans woman to be inducted into the Husky 1002 for her advocacy work, contributions to research, and community impact.

Her current work focuses on building community for Tacoma’s transgender and gender expansive communities with Rainbow Center and helping create spaces that celebrate queerness in all its forms through her art and acting with the Tacoma Blue Mousketeers.

Taking pride in her work advocating for trans communities, Fae is an absolute icon in the LGBTQIA2S+ community right here in Tacoma.

Being Visible

Visibility is always a double-edged sword for trans people. We are living through a violent backlash to massive changes in our cultural understandings of sex and gender, for which political and pundit classes have decreed that trans women represent. This has only increased the danger that trans people already face–especially trans women of color who are disproportionately affected by all forms of violence. Despite this, I believe it is more important than ever for those who can be visible to do so in order to shape the narrative, define our own stories, and help usher in a world in which we can thrive.

Visibility doesn’t have to look the same for every person. It can be as small as being present in your local community, as big as running for office, or anywhere in between. I’m a caretaker, educator, and artist by nature, so I decided to focus on care work within Tacoma. This lets me lean into my strengths while doing work that nourishes my soul rather than drains it.

Being anything other than openly and loudly trans is unthinkable for me. I remember how I felt the first time I saw the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at Olympia Pride. Even though I didn’t have the language to describe my queer identities yet, I felt so seen by them and knew I would be safe wherever they were. I aim to give others that same feeling of safety and belonging through the practice of radical visibility in all of my work.

Ally Advice

Ally is an earned title, so do the work to earn it. Actively step up, step out, and don’t just speak in platitudes. Multiple genocide watch groups raised the red flag that trans people in the United States are experiencing the middle stages of a genocidal process3 at the hands of our state and federal governments. Join liberatory movements and mutual aid groups, read works by trans scholars and activists, boycott the New York Times4 and other transphobic media, and do whatever you can to be in community with not just queer people, but with all marginalized people. Being uneducated about this crisis is no longer acceptable, and those who would call themselves our allies need to speak forcefully and often so we don’t lose more than we already have.

Trans & Gender-Expansive Youth

Things are not ok now; it’s ok to be struggling, but it will get better. These things will pass, and you get to shape what comes next. Queer communities have always taken care of each other. Just look to our history to see what love, resilience, and persistence can accomplish. Hold on to the people you love, find community in those closest to you, and never let anyone extinguish your hope.