This Doesn’t Define Me, an Interview with Bella Bautista
Leading Off: Assigned Media interviews trans activist Bella Bautista. Also, in this week’s news, a UK woman is jailed for not disclosing that she was trans, and the BBC cuts staff training about transgender people. Our top stories starting out the week in trans news.
by Assigned Media
Interview by Christy Perez
At just 22, Bella Bautista has already redefined what it means to be an advocate, organizer, and trans leader in the South. A native of Cartersville, Georgia, she first came to public attention as a college cheerleader-turned-pageant contender, becoming the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Supranational USA. But Bella is far more than pageantry competitions. She is the founder and executive director of This Doesn’t Define Me, an initiative born from her own experiences with PTSD, transphobia, and marginalization - and dedicated to amplifying voices too often silenced. Her story is one of survival, resistance, and transformation.
In high school, amid the political upheaval of the first Trump presidential era, she co-founded a Black Student Union and a Diversity Club as lifelines for students who felt invisible. Later, after being falsely incarcerated and denied essential gender-affirming care, she turned trauma into activism by filing a civil suit that challenges discriminatory practices at the county level. That fight is still ongoing.
Bella’s ambition doesn’t stop with personal branding or advocacy. She’s testified in state legislatures, interned with the Global Trans Equity Project, and is laying the groundwork for broader systems change. Yet through it all, her guiding belief remains: no label, no diagnosis, no past injustice should ever define a person’s worth. Bella spoke with Assigned Media about her journey, the tension between survival work and systemic overhaul, and how she envisions a future in which trans lives are not contested, nor politicized, at all.
Assigned Media: Bella, can you start by sharing a bit of your personal journey, like what experiences shaped you into the leader and advocate you are today?
Bella Bautista: “In high school, during Trump’s first presidency, I saw how invisible students of color and LGBTQ+ students felt. There were no safe spaces, so I co-founded the Black Student Union and The Diversity Club. That was my first taste of leadership and creating spaces where none existed and reminding people that their voices mattered. That lesson still guides me today.”
AM: This Doesn’t Define Me is such a powerful name. What does that phrase mean to you personally, and how does it reflect the mission of your organization?
BB: “At first, it was a campaign I started during my reign as Miss Buckhead USA. After my incarceration and PTSD diagnosis, it became something deeper. I realized trauma doesn’t define us but it can connect us. Today, This Doesn’t Define Me is about building bridges, challenging stereotypes, and reminding young trans people of color that if you see someone else doing it, you can too.”
AM: Your organization does harm reduction and HIV prevention work while also advocating for incarcerated and justice-impacted trans people. How do you balance immediate needs with the bigger-picture fight for systemic change?
BB: “I don’t see it as balancing two things; it’s just survival. Harm reduction keeps us alive today, and those same stories fuel our policy fights tomorrow. It’s not charity, it’s survival as resistance.”
AM: What are some of the most urgent or overlooked issues facing incarcerated trans people right now?
BB: “When I was jailed for ten days, I was denied medication, undergarments, even hygiene products. That’s not unique to me, but rather it’s systemic. Today, I’m suing Bartow County Sheriff’s Department for $1.5 million, not just for myself, but to end policies that dehumanize trans women.”
AM: In the nonprofit world, you’ve been outspoken about equitable practices. What changes are most necessary?
BB: “Accountability and representation. Too often, nonprofits misallocate funds or tokenize trans women of color. We don’t need symbolic inclusion, we need leadership, fair pay, and resources in our hands.”
AM: You describe yourself as an Afro-Mexicana trans woman, how has your identity shaped your leadership?
BB: “Intersectionality isn’t theory, it’s my life. I’ve felt excluded in both queer spaces and immigrant spaces. That pain shaped me into a leader who insists on making room for everyone. My background lets me bridge communities, reaching Black migrants, Latinx immigrants, people living with HIV, and trans folks; intersectionality reminds us all that our struggles are connected.”
AM: How do you see the struggles of policing, confinement, and surveillance against trans people of color connecting to broader justice movements?
BB: “It’s all the same system. You can’t fight for trans liberation without fighting for racial and economic justice. The same forces profiling Black and Brown people are criminalizing trans survival. Liberation has to be collective.”
AM: With so much anti-trans rhetoric and legislation, how do you stay grounded?
BB: “I’ve seen how just walking into a room changes the energy. Many people holding anti-trans beliefs have never met us. My visibility, such as speaking honestly and showing up, is what grounds me. Persistence itself is resistance.”
AM: What role do storytelling and media coverage play in shifting the narrative around trans lives?
BB: “Storytelling decides how people see us, and also if they see us at all. Right now, politicians exploit stereotypes to dehumanize us. That’s why visibility matters: perspective saves lives, empathy saves lives. Every time the public sees a thoughtful, educated trans woman, it chips away at those lies.”
AM: Looking ahead, what is your boldest dream for This Doesn’t Define Me and the communities you serve?
BB: “I want an America where trans rights aren’t up for debate, where our humanity isn’t contested. My dream is to move beyond survival politics and reach a point where neither any single person's existence or dignity continues to be on trial.”
Last week, Ciara Watkin, a trans woman in the UK was sentenced to 21 months in jail for allegedly failing to disclose to a male sexual partner that she was trans. Watkin, who was found guilty by a jury in August, has identified as a trans woman since primary school (the equivalent of elementary school in America).
The prosecution’s case against Watkin focused on the idea that in not disclosing her birth gender, the defendant was unable to meaningfully consent to the encounter. While this may be true, it should be noted that this same level of scrutiny is not typically applied to other common deceptions told in the pursuit of sex.
In addition to her jail sentence, Watkin will be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
The BBC is pausing transgender and LGBTQ+ training for staff, awaiting guidance following a Supreme Court decision in April that ruled that gender assigned at birth is the only one that would be legally recognized in the UK.
The courses the BBC has removed are 'LGBTQ+ Allies' and 'Trans Insights'. These come quickly on the heels of other inclusivity training having references to pronouns and self-identification removed.
“We are not rowing back on our inclusivity training,” said a BBC spokesperson, shortly following the removals and trimming of their inclusivity training.
Assigned Media is one hundred percent supported by our readers. Become a member today and get a members-only essay by founder Evan Urquhart every Thursday.
Dr. Christy Perez, also known as C-Dreams, is an award-winning journalist, visionary public theologian, and abolitionist strategist whose work bridges faith, justice, and storytelling. A 2024 PJP Stillwater Award recipient for Best News Story and Marvel Cooke Abolitionist Journalism Fellow, her writing has appeared in outlets including HuffPost, The Appeal, Filter Mag, Business Insider, and more. Drawing from lived experience and a career of movement leadership, she writes to expose systemic harm, uplift marginalized voices, and chart pathways toward liberation.