This op-ed originally appeared on pridesource.com 03.06.2025

When straight people see the acronym LGBTQ+, they tend to think of the varied people falling under its broad umbrella as a monolith — a cohesive group of folks united by our queerness. But those of us who are part of the LGBTQ+ community know how wrong that perception can sometimes be.  

In reality, there can be clear divisions and lack of support for each other. And that lack of unity, especially in times as perilous as these, can end up hurting all of us. 

What has me thinking about this lately is President Donald Trump’s recent flurry of executive orders specifically targeting trans people and the response — or more accurately, the lack of response — from some members of the gay and lesbian community.  

This is a point that needs to be made absolutely clear: Anyone who thinks the issues affecting trans people aren’t fundamentally connected with the broader LGBTQ+ community doesn’t know or understand the history of our movement and how it began. The fact is, it wasn’t white, cisgender gay men like me who launched the movement to obtain equal rights. Instead, it was trans women of color who played a leading role in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, which played a pivotal role in launching the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. 

Angelica Christina, board director of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, was blunt in her assessment of the debt owed trans people: 

“Pride would not exist without trans people, especially trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major Griffin Gracey, who were on the front lines and fought for queer and trans liberation and for the LGBTQIA+ movement.”  

Now there are attempts underway to erase that history. As NPR recently reported, “The National Park Service website exploring the history and significance of the Stonewall Uprising has been stripped of any mention of transgender people. The page was also updated to remove the ‘T’ from the previously used acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ — now, referring to the community as either ‘LGB’ or ‘LGBQ.’  References to the word ‘queer’ have also been removed.”  

Clear and present danger 

Having already issued at least six executive orders intended to further marginalize trans people by attempting to deprive them of their rights, the president is hard at work pushing an agenda of bigotry against a group of people that make up fewer than 1% of the population. 

We — and by that I mean the entire LGBTQ+ community and all of our allies — cannot let him succeed. Aside from the show of solidarity for our trans brothers and sisters, supporting them now is also an act of self-preservation. 

Does anyone believe that Trump, and the politicians who follow his lead, will confine their bigotry and hate-mongering to just one segment of our community? I seriously doubt there are many among us who are that naïve or gullible. 

In fact, the president has already shown his disdain for all LGBTQ+ people through actions taken on his first day in office. In rescinding executive orders issued by Joe Biden while in office, Trump, with the stroke of a pen, abolished an order calling for LGBTQ+ people’s health equity, LGBTQ+ data collection and nondiscrimination protections, including in health care. 

Also rescinded were orders that had called for nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ young people in school, which could contribute to stigma and worsened mental health. 

The message is clear: No one who belongs to the LGBTQ+ community can feel safe these days. 

What to do? 

Given the sheer number of actions being taken, it is easy to understand how some folks might feel overwhelmed. But we cannot give in to despair. If we do, the people trying to deprive us of our rights automatically win. 

Instead, we need to rally around each other, and unite in opposition to what is happening. 

One thing each of us can do is use the various social media platforms available to us to start spreading messages of solidarity and mutual support. Fly a rainbow flag and or the transgender flag to signal support for the community. Also contact officeholders in both Washington, D.C. and Lansing to make sure they understand that assaults on the LGBTQ+ community in general, and the trans community specifically, will not be tolerated, ever. 

Then ask our allies to join that effort. As the great, late Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We are all in this together.  

There truly is strength in numbers. If enough of us show we are united in opposition to attacks on trans people, we can make a real difference.  

The time to act is now.  

The ACLU of Michigan saw a glaring need and stepped in to fill a dangerous void last week after new Trump administration policies threatened to leave two Oakland County women to fend for themselves after they alleged that they were fired from a restaurant for speaking up about mistreatment of a transgender co-worker,  who was also terminated from his job.  

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Until recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – the federal agency tasked with investigating employment discrimination and retaliation claims, including those involving gender identity – would have protected the interests of these three fired employees in court. In fact, it did conduct an investigation that determined all three were illegally fired.  

However, after a lawsuit was filed in 2024 against the Oakland County restaurant that had employed them, a new presidential administration was seated, and the EEOC’s efforts to seek justice disappeared. That is because, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that employment discrimination against transgender people violates federal law, the EEOC now contends that continuing to enforce that law would violate President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies not to promote “gender ideology.”  

As a result, the EEOC has reversed course on protecting the rights of transgender employees— moving to dismiss its claims in the lawsuit against the restaurant as well as in multiple other workplace discrimination cases filed on behalf of transgender employees across the nation. 

The transgender man central to the case, Asher Lucas, had already obtained his own counsel to ensure he would have representation when attempting to protect his rights in court. But the two women who alleged that they were fired for speaking up for him were completely adrift.  

Not anymore.  

Regina Zaviski and Savannah Nurme-Robinson now have the ACLU of Michigan at their side. Last week, we went to federal court, asking that they be allowed to intervene in the case, with us as their attorneys, to make sure their interests are protected. 

Why? 

We’ll let Ms. Nurme-Robinson explain: 

“It is always important to speak up if someone is being harassed or mistreated. But it is even more important now, when the federal government is not just abandoning its obligation to protect the rights of an entire group of people, but is intentionally targeting them in a way that is extremely cruel and harmful. It is also important to stick up for yourself when your rights are being violated, which, with the help of the ACLU, is what we are doing by pursuing this lawsuit.” 

In the face of the EEOC ditching its legal obligations to protect the rights of transgender people and so many other constitutionally questionable actions by the Trump administration, it is important that this message be heard loud and clear: 

We will not remain silent, and we won’t be overwhelmed. Together, we will fight back.