Anna Lardner’s Lane County journey

Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series, Humans of Lane County, that introduces readers to individuals who are making a difference in their Lane County communities. For the month of March, The Register-Guard is highlighting local women for Women’s History Month.

Until recently, Anna Lardner had little interest in being a public figure.

“The last thing I wanted was any form of public attention,” she said.

But that changed in November, when President Donald Trump’s re-election and his rhetoric around transgender Americans, including people like Lardner, struck a nerve and compelled her to begin organizing.

“Unfortunately, once the election happened, it just became clear that there were so many trans folks that were terrified to say anything,” Lardner said. And since she “had a lot of familiarity with public systems and a lot of experience and exposure to speaking before public bodies,” she found herself stepping into an advocacy role.

Ever since, Lardner has consistently attended Lane County board meetings, and she’s gradually found people joining her. Last month, the board’s meeting room overflowed.

Finding her voice in Lane County

Lardner was introduced to Lane County, both the place and the organization, in 2017 when she moved to pursue a job as a parole officer. She stayed there for seven years but ultimately left after two years following her negative experience coming out as trans to her coworkers in January 2022.

“After I came out, it led to all sorts of weird things with folks misgendering me, folks making comments about trans clients we worked with,” Lardner said.

One remark in particular stuck with her. A coworker was frustrated with a client who, in their words, “thinks they’re a woman.”

“That was really hard to hear as a trans person because I don’t think they ‘think they’re a woman,'” Lardner said. “I think that’s a trans person who is just really uncomfortable coming out about their identity because our criminal justice setting is so ill-adapted to trans identity.”

She tried formally complaining to the county human resources about her experience and said they tried to help, but in some ways, their actions made things worse.

“I think people were afraid of talking to me because they didn’t want to say something and get in trouble with supervisors,” she said. “It was a very isolating environment.” Ultimately, Lardner left the position she said was “really destroying my mental health.”

Embracing dance

Dance is a major hobby for Lardner, and she described embracing dance as part of accepting herself once she came out.

“Pre-transition, as a kid, my body and brain wanted to move in a certain way, but a lot of social signals said that ‘No, boys can’t move like that. Boys can’t dance like that,” she said. “So I always hated dancing.”

But after coming out, she took a ballet class, “and I immediately fell in love with ballet and dance and realized that this is how I really wanted to move,” she said. “It was very authentic to me.”

Lardner continued to deepen her love for dance, and it grew to encompass more of her time. “That’s what I wish I had stayed doing,” she said. “And then came November 4th.”

‘A fundamental shift’ after the election

Lardner said the 2024 presidential election results weren’t a big surprise to her.

“There’s a lot of folks out there who are really dissatisfied with the way that the Democrats were running this country and were likely to vote Trump. So I wasn’t super surprised when Trump won,” she said.

But what was surprising and scary, Larnder said, was watching how central attacks on trans people became to Trump’s campaign.

“Trans identity … along with undocumented immigrants, had been the two main themes of the campaign towards the end of it in 2024,” she said. “I spent the first week (after the election), really, really sad, kind of knowing that this is going to be a fundamental shift in what options and opportunities were going to be available for me.”

Taking her fight to the Lane County Commission

Lardner’s next step after the election was to start attending the public comment portion of county meetings. She urged the county board to adopt preemptive protections for trans people and undocumented immigrants.

These protections haven’t come yet beyond the county’s statement that they would follow state law on these issues, but Lardner remained optimistic that it was coming.

At her first meeting, “A few of (the commissioners) made some really clear comments about how they feel my fear and they feel the community’s fear and that they understood where this is coming from,” Lardner said.

Since then, Lardner said, she’s been connecting with other trans people, their parents, service providers and sympathetic faith leaders, eventually leading to a crowd of hundreds requesting a county sanctuary proclamation.

Therapy

Lardner now works as a therapist at the Eugene Center for Anxiety and Stress, where many of her clients are also trans.

“There is a ton of additional fear to the point where a lot of them are really struggling to function,” she said of her clients.

Specific fears she noted are trans people unable to align their documents with their gender identity and the Trump administration’s order targeting access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

“Trans young people, unlike adults, can benefit from puberty blockers,” she said.

Puberty blockers prevent physical changes that can cause severe dysphoria later on, Lardner said.

Lardner said that as far as she knows, no clinics in Oregon have complied with Trump’s order to cease gender affirming care for those under 19 years old, but some in other states have.

“Without their medication, their mental health, which is already really precarious, is going to get even worse,” Lardner said.

Meet the ‘Humans of Lane County’

Ever wonder who’s behind the coolest characters, quirkiest ventures or wildest ideas in Lane County? We’ve got you covered.

Humans of Lane County is a new ongoing series scheduled at RegisterGuard.com and in the City & Region section of Sunday’s print edition. It’s our way of shining a light on the fascinating folks who make this place one of a kind. From artists and entrepreneurs to community builders and local legends, we’re telling their stories — one human at a time.

Find extra photos and behind-the-scenes details online at RegisterGuard.com. Know someone you think we should feature? Email us your ideas at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Anna Lardner’s fight for trans rights in Lane County