Black History Month - Black Trans Women - February 12th

Today's black trans woman to highlight is The Lady Chablis, a Black transgender woman whose presence and personality made her a local legend long before trans visibility was common. The Lady Chablis was born in 1957 and grew up in Georgia, eventually making Savannah her home. She lived openly as a woman in the South during a time when doing so carried real danger and social risk. Known for her sharp humor and confidence, she became a fixture at Club One, where she performed cabaret and built a reputation not just as an entertainer but as a personality people came specifically to see. Her life gained wider attention when she appeared as herself in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, refusing to tone herself down or be presented as a joke. What made Lady Chablis significant was how ordinary she insisted her life was. She did not present herself as a symbol or spokesperson. She simply lived openly, wrote her memoir, and demanded to be addressed with respect, even correcting people who misgendered her in public and on camera. In a region and era where many trans women had to remain hidden to stay safe, her unapologetic visibility helped normalize the idea that a Black trans woman could exist publicly, socially, and confidently as herself.