Alana Balagot Unleashes Protest Anthem «You Can’t Erase Us» on Trans Day of Visibility

Composer Alana Balagot releases the powerful protest anthem «You Can’t Erase Us» with the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, launched on Trans Day of Visibility in response to the removal of transgender history from the Stonewall National Monument website.

Los Angeles composer Alana Balagot has released a blistering new protest anthem, «You Can’t Erase Us», timed deliberately with Trans Day of Visibility, and it’s already causing shockwaves across the LGBTQ+ community. The track, performed with the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, was born out of fury the night the National Park Service quietly removed the word «transgender» from the Stonewall National Monument website in February 2025 — a move widely condemned as an attempt to rewrite queer history.

The website update replaced «LGBTQ+» with «LGB», effectively erasing the contributions of trans trailblazers like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major. Balagot, horrified by the erasure, sat down that same night and wrote «You Can’t Erase Us», a defiant musical response insisting that trans people will not be pushed out of the movement they helped build.

Now recorded and performed by the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, the anthem has become a rallying cry, its release on Trans Day of Visibility underscoring the message that the trans community refuses to be silenced. The chorus — the nation’s first all Trans‑Identified ensemble — features Transgender, Non‑Binary, Intersex, Gender‑Non‑Conforming and Gender‑Fluid singers, and has been a powerful voice for visibility and joy since 2015.

Balagot herself is no stranger to ambitious creative work. A composer, producer and technologist, she has contributed to major films including Cloud Atlas, Killer Elite, Pioneers in Skirts and the TV series Awake. She has collaborated with acclaimed composers Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, and as a founding member and co‑music director of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, she has long championed trans representation in the arts. Beyond music, she builds electronic instruments, kinetic installations and experimental tech‑driven art — but «You Can’t Erase Us» may be her most politically charged creation yet.

To bring the anthem to life visually, Balagot and her wife, filmmaker Rebecca Louisell, launched a crowdfunding campaign that smashed its goal. The upcoming music video will feature choreography by Jia Miramontes, community dancers and the soaring voices of TCLA. Louisell will direct, with production led by Balagot, Donna Miller, Jia and Louisell — all proud members of the chorus.

«You Can’t Erase Us» isn’t just a song. It’s a warning, a celebration and a refusal to let history be rewritten. And with the trans community standing firmly behind it, this anthem is set to echo far beyond Trans Day of Visibility.