• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • 2nd Annual Sabor de Mi Centro Block Party Boogies in Boyle Heights
  • Senior Prom Celebrates 25th Anniversary
  • “Solidarity Forever”: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr at Trans Town Hall
  • “We Are Immense, and We Are Abundant”: Trans Pride LA Organizer Gina Bigham Looks Back on a Decade-Plus of Highlights and the Biggest Trans Pride Yet
  • Trans Actors, Athletes, and Activists Celebrate Community and Solidarity at First-Ever Trans Town Hall
  • “My Crown Is Paid For”: 12 Center Portraits of Juneteenth
  • House of Avalon, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Join Center Staff and Supporters for LA Pride: “F*ck the Margins. We’re the Center.”
  • This Year’s AIDS/LifeCycle Participants on Why They Ride
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Community»Appearing in the Center’s “Love in Action” Telethon May Be Actress Quei Tann’s Most Personal Role Yet

Appearing in the Center’s “Love in Action” Telethon May Be Actress Quei Tann’s Most Personal Role Yet

0
By on August 11, 2021 Community, Youth

By Greg Hernandez

When actress Quei Tann was asked to participate in this weekend’s Love in Action telethon benefitting the Los Angeles LGBT Center, her answer was an immediate “yes.”

Tann happens to know first-hand how important the Center’s programs and services are to the community and what a difference they can make in someone’s life.

“Unlike some people who feel aggrieved and annoyed by seeing homeless people in the streets, my heart really breaks because that was me,” she shares.

Tann, a rising star with recurring roles on Netflix’s Dear White People and the BET+ Original Series Tyler Perry’s Bruh, credits the Center for coming to her rescue when she was a teenager experiencing homelessness. She had been living with her mother in Las Vegas then headed to LA on her own and stayed at what turned out to be a marijuana grow house. When it was busted by police, Tann had nowhere else to stay.

“I was a person who was homeless, homeless, homeless,” recalls Tann, who is transgender. “It was really, really dark. When you include being queer into that circumstance, it makes  even more likely to experience homelessness because of all the discrimination and all the systemic inequalities.”

Tann was sleeping in her car and had spent some time at an emergency shelter when she was accepted into the Center’s Transitional Living Program (TLP) . The program not only provides housing but also teaches life skills to a young people as they maintain a job, enroll in school, and move towards independence.

Tann stayed with TLP for 16 months.

“One of the things that I’ve learned from my time with the Center is that people really like to mischaracterize people who are experiencing homelessness,” she says. “They say things like ‘They don’t work.’ Everyone I know, including myself, was such a hard worker, and we always had a job. We would put away 70 percent of our income—and that’s an essential life skill I take with me today.”

A Queer Eye Connection

During her time at TLP, Tann met future Queer Eye star Karamo Brown who worked for several years at the Center’s LifeWorks youth mentoring program.

“He was my mentor,” she said of Brown. “He would take me to Paramount Studios. We spent one of my birthdays together. He helped me get some scholarships I would use to pay for my acting classes. That really helped propel me into the career I have today.”

Tann also met fellow TLP alum Alexandra Grey, a trans actress who has landed recurring roles on NBC’s Chicago Med, Amazon’s Transparent, Fox’s Empire, and CBS’s MacGyver, among other credits.

“Alexandra is my absolute best friend who I talk to every single day,” Tann shares. “We got through the situation together. It was so great because I really got community—I was able to find a community of Black trans women. We are a subset of a subset of a subset of a community.”

“It’s really difficult, if you’re in a room, to find a person of color—let alone a queer or trans person of color,” she adds. “So, it was great to have these meetings, these hangouts, these excursions with other trans women of color—I really, really appreciated that.”

Tann will appear in the upcoming season of Dear White People and in the new Tik Tok series Hidden Canyons which, she says, deals with queer issues.

The Love in Action telethon airs live on Saturday, August 14, from 7–9 p.m. PT, on KTLA 5. Support the Center now and be featured during our live television event! Visit love.lalgbtcenter.org

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

2nd Annual Sabor de Mi Centro Block Party Boogies in Boyle Heights

“Solidarity Forever”: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr at Trans Town Hall

“We Are Immense, and We Are Abundant”: Trans Pride LA Organizer Gina Bigham Looks Back on a Decade-Plus of Highlights and the Biggest Trans Pride Yet

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

  • There are no upcoming events.
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

🚨 #LACounty is ending all HIV prevention contra 🚨 #LACounty is ending all HIV prevention contracts by May 31—putting lives, jobs, and decades of progress at risk. The Center and our community won’t stand by. Silence = Death. We’re fighting back @LACountyBOS #ActUpLA. Take action at the link in bio!
Celebrating the brilliance, vibrancy, and joy acro Celebrating the brilliance, vibrancy, and joy across our AANHPI diaspora—where queerness and ancestry intersect in ways both tender and powerful. 🌈🌺 #AANHPIMonth #QueerJoy
🚨The Department of #HHS released a federal repo 🚨The Department of #HHS released a federal report promoting conversion therapy under a new name—dismissing decades of science-based evidence for lifesaving, gender-affirming care for #TGNBI+ youth. Swipe to learn what’s at stake and visit our Take Action page at the link in bio. #ProtectTransYouth
Happy 70th to the iconic and first ever Center glo Happy 70th to the iconic and first ever Center global ambassador, @donatella_versace! Forever [stuck] in our hearts and thankfully not our elevators!
⚠️TW: A 61-year-old transgender woman in #West ⚠️TW: A 61-year-old transgender woman in #Westlake has been the target of multiple violent hate-motivated attacks. #LAPD is seeking help identifying the suspects and any additional victims. Anyone with possible information is encouraged to contact the Rampart Division detectives at (213) 484-3495 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. Swipe to learn more.
🌅#GoldenHour is back May 17! This all-ages #AAN 🌅#GoldenHour is back May 17! This all-ages #AANHPIMonth night market honors @lararajj of @katseyeworld! Curated by and for queer AANHPI communities—expect karaoke, tea tasting, cultural bites, live performances & more. Presented by @gileadsciences and @mayumi_market 
RSVP: lalgbtcenter.org/GoldenHour
On Saturday night, our Anita May Rosenstein Campus On Saturday night, our Anita May Rosenstein Campus came alive with love, recognizing the resilience of our community at the Center’s #LAForever Celebration. Nearly $800K was raised for our life-saving services, with unforgettable moments from honorees @thesherylleeralph and Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy of CHLA, and our vibrant host @bobthedragqueen. Thank you to everyone who showed up, stood up, and reaffirmed that our lives are worth defending. Read more at the link in bio 💜
Lesbians: visible, powerful, and probably funnier Lesbians: visible, powerful, and probably funnier than you. Happy Lesbian Visibility Week! #LV25 #QueerJoy
Celebrating the unforgettable Jiggly Caliente, a f Celebrating the unforgettable Jiggly Caliente, a fierce performer, advocate, and trailblazer whose light touched so many. Her loss leaves a deep ache in our community, and we hold her loved ones close in our hearts during this time.
Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.