A Non-Exhaustive Collection of Pictures & Memories From Vann’s Lifetime of Activism
February 2016
Vann’s first experience engaging with LGBTQ+ issues was at the age of 12 when he heard about the death of Leelah Alcorn, a young trans woman who lost her life to suicide after facing abuse from her family, in the news. He drew dozens of posters, raising awareness of Leelah and her posthumous misgendering, and put them up all over his middle school campus. He went on to table and teach students about Day of Silence, a day to recognize the bullying that LGBTQ+ people face, by abstaining from speaking. He started the first GSA at his middle school along with his friends, and continued his advocacy into high school. This picture, taken at the age of 15, was when Vann started becoming more and more involved in his local school district and community, raising awareness of the struggles trans people go through, as well as the violence and harm that they suffer.
June 2017
In Fall of 2015, Vann’s freshman year of high school, he became one of the founding members of Castro Valley USD’s District Student Leadership Alliance (DSLA). Vann created the logo. One of Vann’s biggest commitments that he took on was the Castro Valley High School LGBT Health Panel, held twice a year in every health class on campus. This panel discussed students’ experiences of being LGBTQ+ and answered attendees’ questions.
December 2017
Vann contributed to Marshall Elementary School’s English Is For Everyone Program as a tutor, which allowed parents to learn English related to their children’s education while their kiddos did their homework.
May 2018
The Castro Valley Community Alliance, which Vann was a founding member of, is appointed the Grand Marshall of the Rowell Ranch Rodeo.
May 2018
Vann and other members of the DSLA attend the NAACP’s lobby day in Sacramento, speaking with staffers and legislators on issues concerning the wellbeing of Black Californians.
November 2018
The Unity Poetry and Art Slam was a labor of love, planned and hosted by Vann and another member of the DSLA. This event was organized to draw attention to the increasing hostility and discrimination prevalent within our communities during the Trump presidency. It came in line with the Bay Area Stands United Against Hate campaign, for which the Community Alliance engaged with through multiple initiatives. With over 200 attendees, this event was a hit that allowed people of all ages and backgrounds to come together in a way where their differences were celebrated and championed as their defining strength.
April 2019
Attending the rally for school funding held by the East Bay Coalition for Public Education outside of the Capitol building in Sacramento.
April 2019
Leading the Unity March, one of the Community Alliance’s many Bay Area Stands United Against Hate initiatives to raise awareness of the growing divide in our community.
May 2019
Attending Castro Valley Elementary School’s Open House to celebrate the success of the Social Justice Book Series! Vann designed activities and led conversation surrounding various topics pertaining to social justice through the medium of children’s books. Vann visited and engaged with every classroom and every grade level in the school once a month for four months.
June 2019
Vann and his friend organize and moderate a Raising of the Flag Ceremony in conjunction with a Pride Visibility Day at the high school in order to protest a neighboring city that refused to fly the rainbow pride flag outside of City Hall during June. This was the first time the rainbow flag was raised at Castro Valley High School, and this event was what led to Castro Valley Pride giving Vann the 2019 Community Hero Award.
June 2022
Vann works in the Office of Assemblyman Evan Low through Equality California’s Comcast Fellowship. He directly helped in passing legislation to recognize Trans Day of Remembrance, as well as change LGBT History Month to LGBTQ+ History Month. Additionally, he contributed to research for the assemblyman’s speeches, and performed the very first research for what would later become Prop 3, the Right to Marry and Repeal Proposition 8 Amendment. He met Governor Gavin Newsom, as well as many of the legislators who were in the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus at the time. This is where Vann truly began to become invested in legislation.
September 2022
Vann works for Our Family Coalition, a non-profit serving LGBTQ+ families in the SF Bay Area. He works under the Communications and Development department to raise awareness of local resources and events in the community and build partnerships. Vann staffs the Family Pride Garden during Oakland Pridefest at Fairyland in this picture.
January 2023
Vann presents to his first college classroom on his research project, “What to Expect When He’s Expecting.” This senior thesis was the culmination of a deep dive into historic and biological findings relating to transgender fertility along with an oral history series, housed on a UCSC website that is now being preserved by the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.
February 2023
Vann presents at the 2023 Creating Change Conference in San Francisco alongside Trystan Reese, a self described “trans fertility nerd” who served as Vann’s mentor over the course of an internship that became a contracted position writing articles and creating content on transgender reproduction-related topics. Vann would later on work with him at a trans-serving therapy group called Full Spectrum Therapy, auditing and updating the largest gender-affirming resource guide known to the Oregon region.
March 2023
Vann leads a Dine & Discuss event at the UCSC Womxn’s Center in collaboration with the Cantu Queer Center, centering around trans fertility and his research. Vann’s research is now used by the UC health system’s transgender self-education packet, providing assistance to trans students wanting to learn more about their reproductive capabilities.
April 2023
While attending UCDC and interning with the National LGBTQ+ Task Force, Vann makes his pilgrimage to the Stonewall National Monument, taking time to learn from the resident historian. Vann finds himself cemented even further into his role as an LGBTQ+ activist. Vann also spent over a week in central Florida, meeting with grassroots organizations and activists working on the ground to fight for LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion in an increasingly hostile environment. Vann helped develop connections and partnerships while strategizing ways in which the Task Force could bring intersectional discussions and solidarity to the political movement.
June 2023
Vann interns for Erin Reed, internationally renowned trans activist and journalist, while living in DC and working simultaneously for the National LGBTQ+ Task Force, creating educational content on policy and lobbying on the hill. He contributed to Erin Reed’s legislative tracking spreadsheet, and spent time tracking and watching hearings. He analyzed the rhetoric most commonly used and developed media surrounding some of the common misinformation being spread by politicians and conservative lobby groups, especially pertaining to trans youth’s ability to reproduce.
June 2023
Vann protests outside of the Hayward Unified School District along with Castro Valley Pride after a board trustee made inappropriate comments claiming LGBTQ+ indoctrination of children.
June 2023
Vann is the keynote speaker at both of his graduation ceremonies, graduating at the top of both of his departments with highest honors. Vann received the Dean’s and Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards for his senior thesis on transmasculine reproduction. After graduating, Vann continued working as a contractor, taking up projects with St James Infirmary, a non-profit organization serving current and former sex workers and helping them access health care, gender affirming care, housing, community, and more; Fearless Foundry, a 360 Marketing Firm serving under-represented small business owners in order to encourage and nurture economic and entrepreneurial equality; and Castro Valley Unified School District, creating an LGBTQ+ Thrive Guide for school districts to be able to learn how to better serve their students, faculty, families, and community at large.
February 2024
After working the 2024 Creating Change Conference in New Orleans as a Queer the Vote canvasser and volunteer trainer, Vann attends the Victory Institute’s Campaign & Candidate Training to learn how to support the LGBTQ+ community through electoral politics.
March 2024
Though Vann became involved with East Bay 4 Ceasefire Now during its inception in November of 2023, it wasn’t until after his grandfather passed away in January of 2024 that Vann stepped into his role as one of the lead organizers. As a direct descendant of Holocaust survivors, one of whom who is still alive, Vann feels a deeply personal stake at hand. Having heard stories of genocide growing up, it deeply troubles him to be living through yet another genocide, fueled by our tax dollars and carried out with weapons built right here in Alameda County. In February Vann begins lobbying, protesting, and campaigning for an immediate ceasefire and divestment from Israeli apartheid at the city, county, and federal level.
March 2024
Vann sits on the planning committee for the 2024 Lead With Pride Summit, held by the Association of California School Administrators, an organization representing over 17,000 school admin across California. In addition to planning the conference, Vann presented on trans-inclusive sex education and how it combats the misinformation being used to strip trans people (especially youth) of their rights.
March 2024
East Bay 4 Ceasefire Now holds the first ever people’s tribunal investigating an individual congressman’s role in contributing to a genocide. Vann led the trial and described the evidence gathered regarding Congressman Eric Swalwell’s complicity in the brutal slaughter of Palestinians, as well as his failure to represent the will of his constituency. Community members shared their stories and took part in a collective moment of learning and healing.
May 2024
Vann presents his research on transmasculine reproduction at the Sex & Perinatal Mental Health Conference in Los Angeles.
July 2024
Vann attends Castro Valley Pride’s Trans Visibility Rally to raise awareness of the onslaught of transphobia growing across the nation as bodies are increasingly policed and restricted.
November 2024
The Transgender Strategy Center’s Trans & Gender Non-Conforming Families Think Tank Report, “The Right to Care For Those We Love,” is released on Transgender Day of Remembrance. Vann participated in this think tank as an expert contributor.
December 2024
Starting in April of 2024, Vann worked at the county level and contributed towards the Alameda County Divest From Apartheid Campaign, performing policy research, lobbying local officials, and organizing meetings and community delegations. He attended both the November 12th and the December 10th Alameda County Board of Supervisors meetings where community members urged the board to vote for a resolution to develop an ethical investment policy. In December, Vann was able to speak on behalf of East Bay 4 Ceasefire Now as well as his own personal connection to genocide and the military industrial complex as a descendant of Holocaust survivors. Ultimately the board voted unanimously in favor of the resolution. Alameda County has already seen over $12 million worth of bonds removed from Caterpillar for their involvement in human rights abuses.
January 2025
Vann presents at ACSA’s Superintendents’ Symposium in Monterey on LGBTQ+ resources and a legislative debrief for entering 2025.
February 2025
Vann officially releases the LGBTQ+ Resource List and LGBTQ+ Legislative Debrief as public resources on his website.