LA chorus helps trans people find their voice, amid rise in anti-LGBTQ efforts

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- For members of the transgender community, it can be difficult to find one's own voice.

The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles has a goal of raising awareness through song.

"We're not different than most other people, we're just who we are," said Kathryn Davis, executive director of the chorus. "And we love to sing."

The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles is where trans people of all ages and genders can find their voice - often literally.

"So if you're a trans man for example and your voice is going into that lower register, but you're used to it being in the higher register, how can you find that middle ground during this journey so that when your voice settles, you can be a confident singer?" said Abby Hall, artistic director of the chorus.

Davis is a trans woman. She says she and her family always knew what she internalized, but it took a recent near-death experience to live it.

"I had my gender affirmation surgery a week after my 70th birthday," she recalled.

Both feel this is a safe space. And right now, a fragile one.

A Trevor Project survey found more than half of trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide in the past year.

This year, all but four states have introduced what the ACLU classifies as anti-LGBTQ bills - almost 500 total, including one in California that failed.

Abby and Kathryn feel only with humanity can we have productive conversations.

"We still have a lot to learn," Davis said. "There are issues like trans women in sport, those kinds of things which I'm working on that really need more addressing."

And through it they'll sing, at times their own lyrics, as the TCLA writes and fights for a future.