LGBTQ+ People Are Not Going Back
On uplifting trans* leaders and moving with care amidst a crisis of knowing.
Today is yet another in a series of hard days for queer and trans* community in the United States. As Senators and Representatives return to the halls of Congress today, they are newly emboldened by the election results of a few weeks ago. Hundreds of them are prepared to ratchet up a full-on assault against our freedoms. Many have already participated in the dangerous devaluing of gender equity represented by gross bathroom privacy and access invasions. And few are standing up and loudly fighting for what is right, instead reeling in defeat and fear for the future.
However, LGBTQ+ people are not going back. Moved by the leadership of the transfeminist literary visionary Julia Serano, we are united today in declaring that our rights are not up for debate. Trans* leaders like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera have been doing the work of resistance and freedom dreaming for generations. We will not let the chain of advocacy they furthered break at our lane.1 Instead, I believe we will move with radical hope for a more just future. There will be tragic losses along the way, no doubt. But we are not going back.
As writers from all backgrounds answer Serano’s call today, I hope to contribute my perspective on our path forward in two distinct ways. First, I will offer my analysis of the socio-political challenges we face as transfeminists, informed by my positionality as a trans woman studying queer and trans histories at a historically women’s college. Second, I will share my vision for analysis-driven action, informed by my further positionality as a community organizer and activist leader; I will even share a preview of a major professional announcement that will further this work in 2025. I hope you’ll read on, and reply with feedback, to share in this thinking.
A Crisis in Knowing
Trans people in the United States face what I will call a crisis in knowing.
At a basic level, this crisis is illustrated by just three figures:
· At least 1 in 200 Americans are trans*.2 (This could be closer to 1 in 63, but we’ll say 1 in 200 for the purposes of this piece.)3
· The average American knows 600 people, for an average of 3 trans* people.4
· And yet… 62% of American voters say they do not know a trans* person.5
To summarize: Americans do not realize that they are in community with trans* folks. As a result, we lack authentic knowing by our neighbors. And from this lack of knowing emerges a void, an empty space in which impressions of trans* folks would otherwise exist, but cannot yet because of a lack of knowing.
Under ideal circumstances, this void would be filled critically over timet as diversity, equity, and inclusion increased and folks got to know one another across this apparent cis-trans divide. And until that time, the void would remain empty; neither positive nor negative impressions could fill it.
However, anti-trans* authorities are, for a variety of misguided and pernicious reasons, working rapidly to fill the void with a knowing not of trans* realities, but rather of trans* fearmongering. From anti-trans* advertisements to moral panic inducements and folk legends, a barrage of material is entering Americans’ lives, filling the void, and leading to a perverse form of knowing. This, I believe, is central to how we got here: to a point where the average American does not believe they know us, but does believe in a policy agenda to control us.
When you do not know someone, it is much easier to fear them and much easier to hate them. It is harder, comparatively, to hate someone who is sitting in your kitchen and sharing a cup of coffee as a neighbor you’re getting to know. And so, as we face a range of crises in community, I believe we face a core crisis of knowing that systemically enhances other crises’ capacity for violent perpetuation.
We cannot ignore the fact that in the face of deep hatred, knowing is never enough. There are absolutely people – and more than a few people, I fear – in our communities who could come to know trans* folks and be unmoved to care for us. We must name and confront this hatred in very specific ways, often seeking to disempower, rather than change the minds of, people who wield their authority with hate.
However, I do believe that the majority of Americans are not entrenched in a deep hatred of our community. Rather, many are caught up in political headwinds, grasping at the authoritative ways of knowing that seek to fill an uncertain void. If 62% of Americans do not know a trans* person, I hope that at least, say, 40% could be moved to care if only their knowing was more authentic.
We must, then, create a critical knowing of trans* realities that empowers community-building for both trans* people and (past, present, and future) allies.
We must do so carefully. There are multiple dangerous pitfalls that could endanger not only these efforts on a high level, but also the people participating in them in direct ways. Neoliberal visibility will never be the answer. Nor will unilateral, restricted representation. The “Transgender Tipping Point” could not save us. Electing a singular trans* person to Congress could not save us. And I will not claim to know any one approach to creating a critical knowing that could begin to save us.
But I do have one idea for one way in which we can begin to move.
An Empowering Future of Trans Leadership
I believe that trans* people have remarkable potential to contribute to society as leaders of all forms – from politicians to scientists to public servants of every kind. We face unique challenges, to be sure. But we also bring unique opportunities to the table, holding the potential for leadership strengths specifically empowered by our transness. Look, for example, to the ways in which trans* thought leaders have contributed to our collective understandings of the ways in which misogyny operates through analyses of transmisogyny. Or, for a more indirect instance, consider how a trans* elected official can relate with a unique perspective to members of their community who have struggled with a range of identity-based challenges.
If Americans from all backgrounds come to know trans* people in their communities through experiences in which trans* realities are demonstrably generative for the community, perhaps their knowing will be more critical than it is otherwise. If a resident of Manassas Park, Virginia, for instance, hears an anti-trans* fearmongering message on a podcast, but also knows trans* experience to be central to the reality of their representation in government and that representation’s improvement of their daily commute, might they pause and think critically about who and what they know of trans* realities? I hope and believe so.
Not every trans* leader will have the same impact, and not every impact will be strong enough to reverse broader crisis dynamics. But if we broadly support trans* leadership in diverse contexts, I believe we can empower both the trans* folks uplifted in the process and the communities they serve.
This idea is certainly nothing new; trans* folks have been public service leaders in a range of ways for generations. I emphasize it, though, as a component of radically hopeful envisionment for our future. And, I emphasize it because I believe it needs more support in the form of resource dedication and particular attention. Trans* leadership cannot be an afterthought or even a subcategory of support if it is to truly impact our crisis of knowing in the critical times ahead. We must pour our hearts into every trans* leader whose values and vision have the potential to contribute to a much-needed movement.
I say all of this not just on a theoretical level, but as an applied vision. As an organizer and activist, this is the work I plan to do in the years to come. In fact, if you subscribe to Transverse, you can be among the first to know when an exciting announcement launches very soon; I’ve been hard at work alongside an amazing group of young trans* leaders, and we are moving to create a new non-profit organization focused specifically on trans* leadership development. I highlight this not out of a drive for self-promotion but truly in believing that this work can make a difference amidst the crisis of knowing we face so urgently.
Moving with Care
As I conclude my response to Serano’s call for action in words today, I hope that the long-term goals of this essay do not preclude short-term implementations of its message. Trans* folks should not have to engage in complex processes and intentional forms of leadership in order to be known and to be cared for. If folks do not know trans* people in their communities, they can choose at any time to make an effort to listen, to learn, and to come to critically know – and to then inevitably, humanly, care for – people of trans* experience. Care should be inherent, I believe, and until we get there societally, I hope we can each do all we can to move, individually and in community, with care.
Please consider doing at least two of the following three action steps to move with care today:
1. Reach out to a trans* person in your life and tell them you love them and will do all you can to care for them in the days, weeks, and years ahead.
2. As Serano urged: “contact [your] Congressperson and Senators (and perhaps even local politicians) and tell them that 1) you will not tolerate any backpedaling on LGBTQ+ rights whatsoever, and 2) if they fail to strongly stand up against these attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, then you will take your vote elsewhere next election.”
3. Donate to support Haya, a displaced wife and mother of two daughters, in Gaza.
Finally, please consider subscribing to Transverse. With all my love – Lily.