The living room of Ts Madisons Georgia home in a pristine neighborhood near of Atlanta, which she proudly calls the Ts Starter House, has become both a meeting place and a metaphor. On a Friday in October, ahead of Atlanta Pride weekend, the media entrepreneur, recording artist, and trailblazing television personality sat with Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, to tape an episode of HRCs American Dreams podcast before turning to an extended interview with The Advocate.The two women spoke at length about community, activism, and endurance and about what the Ts Madison Starter House represents for the next generation of Black transgender women.This house is a portal of firsts, Madison said. It holds so much energy. I bought it in 2007, three days before my birthday it was a gift to myself. And now I want it to be a place for the girls coming behind me.The Ts Madison Starter HouseFor Madison, the house is more than a home. Its an extension of her mission. Here, since she opened her first home to the public in March, formerly incarcerated transgender women find refuge and community to set themselves up for success. The Starter House is extremely important because here, you have to tell the girls that youre trans, she said. We want you to live completely out loud because we want you to stand in resistance. See on Instagram That sense of resistance echoed throughout her afternoon with Robinson. During their podcast recording, Robinson looked at her and said, You did that. So what is your hope for the women that will come into this Starter House?Madison didnt hesitate. I want them to plug into the energy thats in here, she said. Therell never be another Ts Madison, but therell always be a you. Use the energy and the force thats in this house to become you.Robinson smiled. Thats legacy, she said quietly.From survival to self-possessionMadisons rise has been improbable by any measure. She began as a sex worker, an online performer, turned that visibility into entrepreneurship, and eventually became one of the first Black transgender women to executive-produce and star in her own reality series, The Ts Madison Experience, on WE tv. (From left) Kelley Robinson of HRC and Ts Madison, surrounded by journalists, prepare for an interview in the living room of Madison's Georgia home, October 2025. Christopher Wiggins for The AdvocateHer journey was not without setbacks. Im important to my community because of all the failures, she said. Not in spite of them. Because of them. Its the nos, the hurt, the almosts, the doors slamming in your face. All of that was supposed to happen so I could sit here and tell somebody else whos going through it: youll make it.Shes since expanded her reach far beyond television. Madison now holds a writing credit alongside Beyonc on Renaissance. Im a Black transgender woman who has publishing with Beyonc, she said. I was a sex worker. It makes me know that my life means something not just to me, but to a whole community.Truth as powerThe days conversations often returned to the same theme: authenticity as a form of defiance.I can be crass; I can be Christian, Madison said. I can be it all. Because I know theres somebody out there exactly like me who I represent.Robinson responded with a smile. As president of the Human Rights Campaign, she said, Im happy that you cuss these people out, because you tell the truth.Madison laughed, then turned serious. Even if I cuss your ass out today, Ill still fight for your rights the same day, she said. I want people to understand that Im a human being.Being authentically who you are is the most important thing, she continued. Everybody else already has their job. Your job is to be yourself.The politics of erasureWhen The Advocate asked about the Trump administrations rollback of HIV prevention and transgender health programs, Madisons tone sharpened.If you can do something to the least of people, youre preparing to do it to the greatest, she said. These are white Christian nationalists using the name of the Lord to move wickedly through this world. Theyre not worried about anybodys safety only about power.She warned that scapegoating trans people serves a broader agenda. They distract people of color by making trans people the enemy, she said. But the real enemy is in your government. Take big business out of government. Take Christianity out of government. You cant govern people if youve never lived like the people.Robinson emphasized the human toll. Three billion dollars has been cut from HIV prevention, from mental health services, from the 988 crisis hotline, she said. Its not just about numbers. Its about people across our communities.The people have the power, Madison replied. We put them in office. They work for us.Faith, reframedMadisons faith is pragmatic, not pious. Black people need to not participate in any of that stuff, she said of far-right religious politics. These are people using Gods name to do harm. They dont care about your being, your life, your children. Its about power about their childrens children being in power.For her, resistance itself is a spiritual act. You have to resist, she said. Because if you lie down, you get run over. Standing up builds the wall they cant get through.That imagery the wall that protects rather than excludes surfaces again and again in her language. Dont lay down, she told The Advocate. The only thing thats laying down is the floor. You can walk over the floor. But you cant run through a wall.Pack it up, PaulaDuring the podcast, Robinson asked what shed say directly to President Donald Trump. Madison answered without missing a beat.Pack it up, Paula, she said, deadpan. Your shows canceled. Kelley Robinson of HRC and Ts Madison, surrounded by journalists, in the living room of Madisons Georgia home, October 2025Christopher Wiggins for The AdvocateThe HRC production team and audience in the room, including several of Madisons girls who live in the house and other friends, laughed, but Madison pivoted immediately to a critique of the U.S. Supreme Court and the nations moral direction. The Supreme Court needs to be recast like a TV show, she said. Christ wouldnt do none of this. They talk about morality and still havent given Black people reparations. You cant govern over morals and standards when youve done none of the moral work yourself.She grew more serious. We dont need allies, she said. We need accomplices. Dont pray for me. Get out here and fight with me. Dont love me at night and vote against me in the morning.Robinson agreed. When they come after people like Ts Madison, like [New York Attorney General] Tish James, she said, we have to circle around them with love and support. Thats what allyship and accomplishment mean.Get in the car, Madison added. Dont just drive by drive through.James had just been indicted by the Department of Justice weeks after Trump thought he had sent a direct message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, criticizing her for not having secured indictments of some of his enemies, like former FBI Director James Comey, who was indicted days earlier, California U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, and James.The American dreamWhen the topic turned to the American dream, Robinson told Madison, You are the American dream.Madison paused, then nodded. People think the dream is about having millions of dollars or a big house and a family, she said. I have homes. I have income. I have stability. So its achievable, even when you think its not.She spoke about her own evolution from sex work to entrepreneurship. Im not glorifying it or condemning it, she said. What Im saying is, whatever you do, make it a business. Thats what I did. I built something from it.Madisons version of the American dream is rooted in self-determination. Right now Im an entertainer, all around, she said. I dont chase. I attract. Ive set my goals. Im not going to be 50 years old trying to figure out what my best job is going to be. My job found me.A message to the next generation Before leaving, The Advocate asked what message she had for transgender women and queer youth watching her rise.I want them to know that their existence is a part of activism, she said. Exist. Dont be afraid. Dont let what you see on television scare you into hiding. Youre a gift to your family. Maybe just a unique version of what they prayed for.She paused. Our new motto has gone beyond protecting the dolls; its now about empowering them. What happens after youre protected? You step into your power. And your power is being human.Her final words were both instruction and affirmation. Youre not a trans and a teacher, she said. Youre a teacher who happens to be trans. Youre not a doctor and trans. Youre a doctor who happens to be trans. Youre all of it, at the same time.By the time the conversation ended, Madisons refrain had crystallized into a single idea: that refusing to disappear is itself an act of resistance. Kelley Robinson of HRC (pictured center, in orange) with Ts Madison and crew in the living room of Madison's Georgia home, October 2025Christopher Wiggins for The AdvocateThe importance of todays conversation is instilling hope, she said. If you watch television long enough, youll be afraid. I remember when Trump first got into office, I thought I might need surgery to blend in. Then I shook that off. You dont need to change yourself to survive. You need to stand in who you are.And then, almost as an afterthought, she smiled. I aint going nowhere.