Elle Halo knows what it means not only to be disenfranchised by much of society but from those who would be your natural allies too. She doesn’t just know it. She lives it. She lives her intersectionality, not fully experiencing the advances of either the racial justice or LGBTQ movements. That’s hard anywhere, but in Milwaukee especially, she says. And, yet, the day we met Elle, a day when she was also experiencing grief after losing a friend, she was beautiful, badass and ready to speak her mind fiercely. This didn’t surprise usshe works to get heard in male-dominated spaces to ensure subjects such as HIV prevention and gender-based violence aren’t overlooked. She works at Health Connections, a health clinic serving trans clients, and supports other trans people through Sisters Helping Each other Battle Adversity, or SHEBA. She is a trained youth mental health first responder and a board member at Diverse and Resilient. She served on the city Equal Rights Commission’s committee on inclusive restrooms and spoke when the governor made the first official LGBTQ Pride Month proclamation at the Wisconsin Capitol last year. Lately she’s been advocating to ensure trans lives are included in the Black Lives Matters movement and took part in the Black Women’s Emancipation March. Elle was honored as the Individual of the Year at Pridefest 2019 and recently was included on a mural of Black leaders young and old at 13th and Vliet streets.