In the poll I sent out last week, a major proportion of you all voted that you wanted to read a piece about things we could do to support our trans loved ones. I am more than happy to oblige! Since the most popular piece in Good Queer News’ history was this list of 50 things you can do for trans rights, I’m continuing that on by emphasizing everything on the original list and adding 25 more things you can do for trans rights.
Like last time, here are a few categories:
5 Attitude adjustments
5 Electoral actions
5 Ways to expand our knowledge
5 Places to get involved
5 Actions for direct support
Ok, let’s get into it!
Five Attitude adjustments
I couldn’t think of the perfect name for this section, so this will have to do. These are five ways to reframe the ways we’re thinking about allyship, and the things that might hold us back.
Your voice as an ally MATTERS! I meet a lot of allies who feel guilty for speaking up, or like it isn’t their place. I promise, I do a happy dance every time I meet an ally helping to share the load of speaking up with me.
You don’t have to be an expert to start! Sometimes people get so caught up in feeling nervous about language or not knowing everything that they keep reading books waiting to feel like they know enough. There’s always more to learn, but there’s work to do today.
You can join another movement and make sure they’re being trans inclusive! If you’re in voting rights, or bodily autonomy, or climate justice, or racial justice, or any other movements, it’s incredibly impactful to make sure they aren’t forgetting about intersections with the trans community in those rooms!
Disempowerment and empowerment are both cyclical emotions. If we do not act, we do not believe our actions can make a difference, so we do not act, so we do not see a difference. The only way to break that cycle is to DO SOMETHING!
You may never feel fully “ready”. Here’s the secret: none of us do. No one is coming to save us but us, folks.
Five Electoral actions
Everyone has lots of opinions about electoral politics, so what I will say in brief is that I do not think they are the silver bullet solutions to our problems. Electoral politics create the conditions in which we fight for change. Sometimes it’s just harm reduction, while other times it’s a city council having the votes not to renew their Flock contract, or a school board refusing to ban queer stories, or a state legislature that’s broken their supermajority and doesn’t have the votes to pass an anti trans law.
Learn your state’s voter registration deadline. Until that date, start every conversation by asking everyone if they’re registered to vote. Drop the link to register in your work Slack. Add it to your church’s mailing list or your sports newsletter.
Volunteer to text bank and ask people if they’re registered to vote or sign up to register people IRL in your community.
If you do this with Headcount, you can even get free concert tickets out of it!
Democrats seem to be treating these midterms like a referendum on progressive versus centrist futures of the democratic party. That means there are a lot of really cool candidates. Learn about some of them here! Pick one and donate to their campaign!
There are also a lot of candidates that are uncool or just kind of boring. They live and die by polling and what their potential constituents want, so tell them! Reach out to them on social media, email, phone call, or show up to a campaign event to make sure they know their potential voters want to see them show up for the trans community.
If the future of the democratic party feels like a really important issue to you, join the state or local Democratic Party who’s shaping many of those important decisions.
Five Ways to expand our knowledge
It’s great to learn more, and remember that the learning only matters if you use it to act. There will always, always be more to learn. And we will learn while we act, not just before.
Unsure how to move public opinion on trans people? Start with this incredible recorded event on the Trans Organizing Narrative Shift project!
Struggling to stay emotionally regulated while having challenging conversations? Check out this amazing book by Valerie Kaur titled: See No Stranger, a Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love This book is a cornerstone of my effectiveness as an advocate.
Check out the newly released Blue Canary Project for parents of trans kids to work their way towards stronger support of their loved ones!
Curious about how to reach people deep in the rabbit hole? Check out this recorded webinar with Rick Logis, the founder of “Leaving MAGA”!
Looking for small ways to make advocacy a habit as part of your life? You are the right audience for the Chop Wood, Carry Water Daily Newsletter!
Five Places to get involved
I know, technically, this isn’t a list of actions, but a lot of people tell me that they feel really frozen because they’re not sure where to actually start.
Many faith congregations have some kind of justice committee or book club that you can join or galvanize to action!
Ask an independent bookseller or librarian. They know what’s up.
Join a local PFLAG chapter!
Farmers markets or local craft fairs frequently have different nonprofits tabling, individuals handing out flyers, or cool people you can chat with to learn about what kinds of work is happening!
‘Ol reliable: Reddit. Your city/metro area likely has a dedicated forum, that you might be able to post in or read through the post history to learn where the advocacy is happening. Just exercise caution, because it’s the internet and people don’t usually know how to behave
Five Actions for direct support
If you’ve got a specific person in your life that you know and love and want to help out right now, here are a few extra tips (in addition to all the great ones in the first list tagged at the top of this article) on how to support them.
If you know a trans person who’s looking for a job, go through your LinkedIn network or your Rolodex or however you keep track of who you know professionally to think of everyone you can introduce them to. The job market is brutal for everyone, and trans and gender expansive people who were already being regularly left out of professional spaces may be facing even more difficulty.
Invite them to go to nature with you. Nature is good for everyone.
Buy them a copy of your favorite book by a trans author.
Send them hopeful news stories whenever you see them!
When you are out in the world taking action for trans rights, take a selfie and send it to them. When a loved one lets me know that they’re taking action to protect my community without me needing to tell them specifically to do it, it makes my heart sing. Show your loved one how big their network of allies is!
I know I’m not the only trans person reading this newsletter though! For all my trans folks in the crowd, what other things would you love to see from allies and loved ones? What specific actions can folks take that would make the biggest difference for you?
You made it all the way to the end! Thanks for sticking to it with me. As a reward, here is a picture of Oliver: the Chief Barketing Officer for Good Queer News.
