Cole Moravec (He/They) The Event: In 2015 Cole Moravec alongside other queer activists hung up an American flag with “Trans Lives Matter” and names of trans individuals who have died that year in honor of Trans Day of Remembrance. Their activism faced backlash from the community and had their first flag taken down, as well as violent threats coming from community members.
About Cole: Cole Moravec was a Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies student who used his knowledge to create change and queer centered spaces on Winona State Universities campus. Moravec was copresident of WGSS full-Spectrum and a part of KEAP Councils early student coalition in 2012 where they demanded for safe spaces for students experiencing violence on campus.
By: Arianna Krogseng and Chloe Struss
Impact Created: Interview: In the blog by Rae Peter they wrote “for Trans Day of Remembrance, me and a about the activism that Moravec and few of my friends thought that it would be others participated in left an impact really cool idea to go buy an American flag on Winona State University and its at Wal-Mart, flip it upside 24 down, and community by working towards a more paint Trans Lives Matter on it, and then inclusive and accepting environment. write all the names of the people who were It shows that everyone’s voices matter, 25 murdered...And we hung that up in the and that activism, even on a smaller smack-dab middle of campus on our level is important. Their actions gazebo..And that was ripped down, so then helped paved the way to more we went and bought another one and did activism and building more safe space it again.” (C.Moravac, Jean-Nickolaus on and off campus (2016). Tretter Collection, March, 30, 2017)