Submit a tip
Do you have info to share with HuffPost reporters? Here’s how.
Recently recognized by President Obama, Nikki Araguz Loyd was the first adolescent to appear on six national television programs in the two years during the 1990’s to discuss being transgender with her parent. Nikki has been advocating for HIV and Transgender awareness since 1994, appearing on Jerry Springer four times, Maury Povich and finally when she first told the world on the Sally Jesse Raphael show she was raped at 13 and infected with HIV in 1995. Following the July 4th 2010 death of her firefighter husband, Nikki was sued for the death benefits and her marriage was subsequently invalidated by a Texas judge based on her birth as a transgender person. After a half decade long battle the case was overturned on appeal and the Texas Supreme Court denied a further appeal by petitioners, sending the case back to the trial Judge for a historic reversal. Araguz Loyd has taken her struggles and turned them into a triumph for all transgender people assuring the legislative, judicial and procedural changes in all forms of government for the improved lives of all people regardless of their gender identity. Acknowledged as the inspiration by Harris county Sherriff Adrian Garcia for his monumental and comprehensive changes to the process with which transgender inmates are handled, Araguz Loyd uses her voice and public persona to ensure that all people are treated with equal respect. Having been featured on ABC’s 20/20, NBC, CBS, PBS, Inside Edition and numerous articles around the world, Nikki has remarried American contemporary artist William Loyd and their family is the subject of a digital docu-series on YouTube called Nikki’s American Dream focusing on the families activism and her life as a transparent. Nikki Araguz Loyd travels the country helping families heal while focusing on trans identified people achieving the transitioned status they desire including access to name changes and hormone replacement therapies. Nikki is also the subject of a documentary, The Transgender Widow, https://vimeo.com/178106893 that follows her 6 year long legal battle.