Anti-LGBTQ groups have been trying to push the idea that anti-LGBTQ, and particularly anti-transgender, legislation is about protecting children and preserving parents’ rights. As a queer parent, I know that’s a load of bunk. For the Trans Week of Visibility and Action, therefore, here are some actions we can all take to counter the many legislative attacks on trans people, particularly trans children, across the U.S.
First, visit the Trans Week of Visibility and Action website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram. Over the course of the week, they’re highlighting several states where trans people are facing the most dire threats (Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas), and offering recommended actions and places to donate.
They also have templates for letters you can send to your elected officials about anti-trans bills in any state, whether the legislation is about sports, health care, or bathroom access. Remember that the states above are not the only ones where anti-trans bills are in play; they include even less conservative northern states like New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as many more—visit Freedom for All Americans for a full map and list of bills, and please write to your legislators if any such bills are in your state.
I also recommend reading the About section of the Trans Week website. It not only explains the history of the event (founded by civil rights attorney and parent Chase Strangio and activist and writer Raquel Willis), but also gives a short history of the criminalization of trans lives and trans resistance to it, as well as ideas for further reading/watching (including this profile of WNBA player, activist, and parent Layshia Clarendon, who is trans and nonbinary).
If there is anti-trans legislation in your state, please consider doing at least one thing this week to speak out against it and to encourage others to do the same. If there is not anti-trans legislation in your state, please help spread the word to friends and family in states with such legislation. We have seen some recent successes in stopping anti-trans bills, in Idaho and New Hampshire, for example, that show us we can win—but doing so requires effort. Stopping the record number of anti-trans bills around the country will take all of us, trans people and cis allies, working together. Our actions shouldn’t be confined just to this week, of course, but let’s use these next few days to build momentum.