Franklin Ayzenberg is a white transgender man and social media activist who’s living in New York City. When I asked to interview him, it was late May, and the political atmosphere of our country was unbelievably different.

In fact, part of me is cringing at highlighting a white voice, when now is the time, more than ever, to be uplifting Black voices. But as a Black voice myself, I have decided I wanted to take a second to view the movement through a different lens.

How can I as a Black man help white people learn about weaponizing their white privilege? Franklin Ayzenberg was an excellent person to discuss this with. He runs two Instagram accounts, his main one, where he has over 16,000 followers. A second, newer one @reallyhotandstrongboys is where he beautifully uplifts and celebrates a diverse range of individuals assigned female at birth, who have ventured into masculinity and maleness as varying proximities. Some have had top and bottom surgery, others have had neither and feel just as comfortable that way.

In this interview, we discuss everything from the Black Lives Matter protest, to the hypocrisy of white liberals, to how everyone can come together to uplift trans voices during Pride month. Enjoy!