Meet Samien Reid Burnett, AKA Sam. He is president of Amarillo Area Transgender
Advocacy Group and local superstar. Sam is in his early forties and started transitioning
in August of 2017. Most of his close family and friends were supportive and asked what
took him so long to get started. Soon after he began HRT the transgender community
gathered together to discuss the needs of our community. Thus AATAG was born. It
became a 501c3 with Sam as the head. One of the first things Sam did was to organize
a march from PASO, down 10 th Street to the courthouse. The crowd numbered upwards
of 200 with the Transgender flag flying high is the forefront. Since then AATAG has
grown into the beautiful organization it is today. Every year AATAG puts on several
events including protests. Advocating for the marginalized and the voiceless. Sam is
always on the front lines of these protests. Talking to the media, being the loudest voice,
making sure everything goes smoothly.
When Sam is not working with AATAG, he is working at his 60+ hour a week job.
Typical workday starts at 3:00am and ends around 3:00pm. Co-workers call him
dedicated, reliable, and very hard working.
In 2023 Sam ran for Amarillo City Mayor. While he did not get elected, mr. Burnett
assures us that getting elected wasn’t the point. He ran to create a platform for
discussion. He wanted Amarillo and it’s citizens to be more open minded toward
inclusion and unity. One of the major points of his campaign was to get more funding for
North heights. Most of the neighborhood still have cooper or wooden water pipes. Sam
was quoted several times saying “why are we fixing minor road or asctetic issues in the
upper class neighborhoods when North heights is still dealing with old and dangerous
piping.” Sam currently has no plans to run for Mayor anytime soon but has stated he will
not rule it out.
Sam and his family attend St. Luke Presbyterian church. St. Luke is part of an
organization known as OAC. Open and Affirming Congregations of the Texas
panhandle. Sam became a member of this church officially in 2018. Recently Sam was
named an Elder of the church. Making him the first transgender man to do so.
Mr. Burnett also has a passion for helping those in need, volunteering wherever he can
with Amarillo housing first and code blue warming station.
Even with all that he does for others Sam still finds time to be a devoted husband and
father of 5. In the last few years he has started homesteading, making the decision to
grow as much of his families food as possible; trying his best to stay close to his cajun
roots. Those who know him best would say that it is his southern Louisiana culture that
created the heart he has for others. “I would rather we all make it equally then for some
of us to suffer while others obscenely prosper.” -Sam Burnett.