I'm Scared about the Future But I See Paths Forward

Friends and colleagues, yesterday was a complicated day for me. I beamed with pride at Chase Strangio being the first openly trans lawyer to argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court - embodying, as he put it, the life-saving value of gender affirmation. But the knowledge of why he was there disturbs me to my core. The idea of this particular court setting precedent on the constitutionality of banning young people’s access to gender-affirming care terrifies me.

I do not feel hopeful about how the court will rule. And I think we need to accept that for the foreseeable future, we cannot rely on the federal government to protect the trans community. All three branches are poised to support the horrendous ongoing rollback of rights and likely facilitate the expansion of this attack on trans people and disruption of our known pathways to wellbeing.

So we need to take care of each other. I want to keep this email short so I have a few suggestions for you (and for transparency some of them involve giving money to orgs I’m involved with or to me for my services). My ask is that you commit to at least one of these steps.

1. First, for clinicians, let’s start really thinking creatively and working on what our roles in this future will be. To that end, a recording of my webinar on supporting trans and nonbinary clients with post-election distress is now available through my website. It is paid access ($30) with half of proceeds going to trans-led/centered orgs and I ask that if you are using it for training you consider offering more through my ko-fi page. But I am also happy to offer this at no-cost if you just email me. I also am seeing incredible discussions cropping up in various groups and listservs and encourage you to join in or take the lead on these in your own community spaces. Please let me know of additional resources you are developing or coming across for clinicians about working in this time. I’ll happily compile a list and would like to learn from others, as well.

2. Second, we need visible support for trans communities everywhere right now. Please consider putting up signs or flags in your work and home spaces. Post on social media. Some favorites of mine are by Rae Senarighi, who also will work with folks to put up billboards with his trans- and queer-supportive/liberatory artwork, like the one at the bottom of this email in Montana. I have an xl size of the You Are Loved flag and the Trans Rights are Human Rights flag. I also recommend checking out the free downloadable art from the Trans Day of Resilience Project and following the artists involved in that.

3. Third, make room in your budgets. There are people and orgs doing really important work and they need our support financially. The fight for trans survival and thriving is multi-pronged. We need people establishing alternative pathways to care and community access for trans people whose mainstream and/or legal access to healthcare and societal inclusion are cut off. And we need spaces for resource-sharing, community building, and emotional support for the young people navigating this and their families. Right now, I’m fundraising specifically for PFLAG Charlotte in North Carolina, which among multiple things provides the latter incredibly effectively in a region that needs this. I have been on the board for nearly four years and am so impressed with this organization and group of people. Right now we are running a Now More Than Ever campaign. If everyone who reads this email gives $10 we would be well on our way to meet my goal of raising $2000, though the org actually needs about $50,000 to adequately prepare for 2025, so I welcome more support from folks who can offer it. That said, I’d really love to see people support orgs local to their area, state, or region, and we need to be supporting all of the prongs of this fight. If you have the means or can make room, consider setting up monthly donations to trans-led political orgs, trans community organizing/care orgs, and support/advocacy/education orgs like PFLAG Charlotte. I just pledged an additional monthly donation of $50. You can read more about why I give time and money to PFLAG Charlotte here.

4. Fourth, if you are a cis person, tell a trans person thank you and reiterate your commitment to standing up for our rights. (And not just me, please!) Don’t overly center yourself in a savior-y type way.

5. Fifth, I am interested in how people can come together to facilitate the migration of trans people and families from more hostile places to safer places in this country. Please reach out to me if you are involved in or aware of such efforts. For now, an action step would be connecting with two to three local friends and brainstorming what you all could do to facilitate the arrival or departure (depending on your location) of trans folks and families in this position, and reaching out to local trans or LGBTQ+ orgs to see what work is already being done in your area on this front. Start a signal chat thread where you can safely share information and plan resistance efforts.

6. Sixth, engage with your friends or connections that spout misinformation or biased views about trans people. We CANNOT be quiet and allow this to become the norm. The federal government wants an easy bogeyman who they can target with minimal resistance. Don’t make it easy for people to support this agenda. This action is really for the cis folks reading this. I don’t want it to be trans people’s roles to have to confront this ideology more than we already do just by living in the world right now.

Thank you everyone.