COMMUNITY GRAND MARSHAL
Standing On The Shoulders Of Others
by tim parks
The Rage Monthly spoke with trans activist and Judith Doyle Community Grand Marshal, Karina Samala, about the shoulders she stands on, given the fact that transgender pioneer Marsha P. Johnson was one of the key figures at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots. Johnson, along with fellow transgender woman Sylvia Rivera and others, were among the first to resist police, sparking the Gay Liberation Movement that would only continue to grow.
Samala is the President of the Board of Directors for the Imperial Court of Los Angeles, the chair of the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission Transgender Advisory Council, and a board member of the City of West Hollywood Transgender Advisory Board. “I stand on the shoulders of Marsha P. Johnson, she was the one who started the riots at Stonewall,” said Samala. “There were some people in L.A. at that time that I also really admired, like Connie Norman and others who have been activists and fought for our transgender rights as a community.”
Mentored by San Diego’s Nicole Murray-Ramirez (Empress Nicole the Great, The Queen Mother of the Americas) and San Francisco’s Jose Sarria (The Grand Mere, Absolute Empress I de San Francisco, and the Widow Norton) both of the International Imperial Court System, at which Samala continues to be involved. It was, in fact, her introduction to the community, a vivid contrast from her day job as an aerospace engineer to say the least. “I’d go to work in a suit and tie and then go home and do shows in the bars in Hollywood and Long Beach as Karina,” Samala said. “I worked as a senior engineer for 13 years and I finally quit, because I decided that I could not lead a double life.”
Samala continues to wear many different hats, but today they are all donned in the name of advocacy. She has also been instrumental in working with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department on Transgender Policies, as well as being a member of the LAPD’s Community Police Advisory Board Jail Division and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department LGBT Advisory Council. “It’s instilled in me to make a difference and work for those people that are really needing our help and be a voice to the voiceless,” she stated. “We became the first in the whole nation to have a separate Transgender Advisory Board and from that time on I’ve worked with the community.”
Helping others and advocacy are a way of life for Samala, and she is grateful for the role. “That’s where I am right now, just helping my community,” Samala said humbly. “A lot of my community members call me ‘Mother Karina,’ because I’ve always committed myself to helping them.”
She calls being selected to be a Grand Marshal at this year’s Pride “a great honor,” and also had this to say about the accolade. “Thank you to our gay brothers and sisters for embracing us, the transgender community,” she gratefully offered, “and also for the city to acknowledge our community and be a part of this great celebration. Pride means a lot to us also, being proud of who we are.”
It seems for all intent and purposes, Samala has gone from standing on the shoulders of the pioneers she was mentored by… to becoming one herself.
