50 Things you can do for Trans Rights

FIFTY THINGS you can do for trans rights, trans friends, trans youth, and trans selves!!!

I decided this morning that I wanted to write 50 things people could do to be a better trans ally. It took me a few hours but I think there’s some awesome stuff in here that’s helpful for my queer and cis allies, as well as my fellow trans folks looking to know what else they can be doing right now. I broke my list down into 5 categories, and I would encourage you to pick one or two things from each category, if you can.

Don’t forget to share this with someone else who could use a few new ideas for how to show up better for the trans folks they love!

Categories:

• 10 things to learn more about

• 10 ways to support a trans friend

• 10 things to support trans youth

• 10 things to do with your money

• 10 ways to show up for trans rights

Before we jump in, don’t forget that I’m going live with KB Brookins from Trans News that Doesn’t Suck TODAY!!!! 11:30 PST/2:30 EST!!

10 Things to Learn More About:

Expanding our knowledge of deeper topics empowers us to have challenging conversations and interrupt misinformation and transphobia when it comes up. Let’s get nerdy!

1. The history of trans athletes: Tested by NPR (podcast mini-series about the history and origins of sex testing at the Olympics)

2. The long-term, global history of trans people: Before We Were Trans, Dr. Kit Heyam

3. The slightly more recent history of trans communities and advocacy: Transgender History by Susan Stryker

4. Black trans pioneers: Marsha by Tourmaline

5. Science and sociology of transness and neurodivergence: Unmasking Autism by Dr. Devon Price

6. Pivotal trans historical text: Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

7. Present political impacts on trans young people: American Teenager by Nico Lang

8. Transmisogyny: Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism by Julia Serano

9. Why are people so upset about trans people?: Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler

10. Transness is Healing, a Zine by

    Sebastian Barr
    and Joonwoo Lee

What is your favorite book by a trans author? An ultimate reading list might be my next big undertaking...

Open Access art from the Met! This flower study is from 1510 by Master of Claude de France. How cool is that!!

10 ways to support a trans friend

1. Send them good news stories whenever you come across them, or let them know about wholesome and exciting allyship interactions you have out in the world.

2. Ask: "What's bringing you joy right now?" instead of "how are you?". Lean into that joy with them, or help them find something that can be a source of joy.

3. If they are selling art, working on a personal project, have written a book, etc. buy something that they've made!! Post it all over your social media! Trans small businesses and writers are being actively surpressed by most social media algorithms.

4. Send a "support menu" with options of tactical support you are willing and able to provide. Learn more about this here.

5. Offer to go with them to bureaucratic spaces that can be more hostile or stressful: passport appointments, doctor's offices, DMV, court hearings for name change, etc.

6. Remind them that you love them, and that you have their back. Note: this does not need to include reference to "how awful things are lately". We know.

7. Whenever a particularly heinous headline or executive order drops, invite them to hang out for a fun or restorative no-phones-no-news activity.

8. Also, when a piece of bad news comes out, don't send it to them unless they've specifically asked for it, but reach out to check in and ask how they're doing or if they need anything.

9. Venmo them $10 for ice cream or buy them a copy of your favorite book. This is a personal favorite 👀

10. Ask them!! I don't know what your specific friends need! My favorite question these days is: "What does a good friend look like to you right now?"

Trans kids deserve to blossom and bloom, just like this flower/butterfly study from 1515 in the Met’s open access gallery!

10 Things to Support Trans Youth

1. Buy, read, and share "My Child is Trans, Now What?" (by me)

2. Use Rebecca Minor's website to donate copies of her amazing new book, "Raising Trans Kids" to community centers, libraries, and families in need.

3. If you're in a blue state, research whether your hospitals have stopped providing gender affirming care. Reach out to your attorney general to encourage them to enforce state law and demande those hospitals restore legal, safe healthcare.

4. Research the school boards in your area. Are there any that seem more hostile? Any with important elections coming up? Attend a meeting to speak up, or volunteer to help with a campaign.

5. Create a space where young trans folk in your life can feel completely seen and completely safe. A fancy dress up dinner either in town or in your home, a spa/manicure day, a fashion show.

6. Learn about their interests, passions, and joys. Then search online for trans adults who are living those futures or have lived them in the past. help them see what is possible.

7. Engage with your local PFLAG or Transparent chapter. Some chapters focus only on support, but many have undertaken many advocacy initiatives as well. Volunteer!

8. Buy them a book with a trans character who shares as many identity characteristics with them as possible. Help them see themselves in stories.

9. Follow

   Tina
   from Tertium Quid, who does amazing, tactical writing about how we can prepare ourselves and our loved ones for the challenges that are present and that lie ahead.

10. Help them find safe and affirming spaces where they can gather, like Proud Art St. Louis or Transforming Families Minnesota. If you don't have a trans youth in your personal or local life, donate to orgs like this, or reach out to ask how you can volunteer to support their work!

10 Things to do with your Money!

1. Find out what the important local races are in your state/community. State house, school board, library board, city council, it all counts. Donate to the campaign of an explicitly pro-trans candidate.

   1. Bonus points: reach out to that candidate to let them know you donated because you appreciate their support for the trans community. They will shape their campaign based on the issues they hear about!

2. Purchase books by trans authors! Good sales numbers not only support our careers, they also convince publishers that it is still worth publishing trans books in general.

3. Shop at trans owned and allied businesses! Boycotting is hard, and it's mixed how genuinely effective those are. Rather than focusing changing your habits around avoidance, pick one or two local trans owned/affirming businesses and make visiting them a regular habit.

4. Buy trans art! Wear it! Hang it in your home! Beautiful trans art is everywhere, and helping support those artists and increase visibility of trans art will inspire more people to care. Here’s the shop for a personal fav trans artist:

5. Donate to a mutual aid fund, which helps meet urgent needs for people in your community.

6. Donate to PROMO Missouri, who is fighting off a ballot initiative that, if passed, will endanger trans rights across the country. Half of all my new paid subscriber revenue this month will be going to PROMO, too! If you donate direct to them and message me, I’ll also upgrade you on here for free!

7. Donate to your state or local equality organization, or a local direct services organization providing resources to the local community.

8. Have big money to donate? Go on gofundme and find someone who is fundraising for gender affirming surgery, or for a cross-country move for safety. Pay the gap.

9. Buy 10 copies of your favorite trans book from a local bookstore, then drop them off in little free libraries around your city/town

10. Pick a trans person in your life and ask them what organization has made the biggest difference for them. Then, donate to that organization!

10 Ways to Show up for Trans Rights

1. Get on the distribution lists of the trans and queer rights organizations in your area. Try to find at least one state-level equality organization, and one local, municipal, or county-level organization. Commit to attending at least one call to action from each.

2. Visit the A4TE website and use their portal to safely fill out the FTC's request for information on public opinion of gender affirming care.

3. Extrovert or storyteller? Look up if a local organization is doing any deep canvassing in your area.

4. Are there any ballot initiatives in your state for trans/queer equality? Sign up to collect signatures!

5. Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor to your local paper. Focus on telling stories and highlighting that this is a community of people who deserves safety, privacy, and freedom like anyone else.

6. Especially for more privileged allies, stop transphobic (or misinformed) comments when you hear them from friends and community members. Afraid to stir the pot? Remember: If you're trying to be my ally and the stones thrown at me aren't hitting you, you aren't standing close enough.

7. Encourage your workplace to continue hosting events about trans inclusion and storytelling. Pushing for overall cultural change, building environments where positive policies are more well received, and creating safer workplaces for trans people is critical in pushing for trans rights. (and I have the perfect speaker for you!) (It’s me. Please hire me!!)

8. Do you work with any non-trans-related nonprofits or community serving organizations? How can you encourage them to ensure their services are inclusive of the trans community?

9. Pick a local body: school board, library board, PTA, city council, and learn more about their history. Show up to meetings so that you can let local leaders know when something is coming up that will need a crowd rallied for it.

10. Don't wait for someone else to do it. This is an "all hands on deck" situation. There is no such thing as the right person at the right time, there is only you, now. Don't feel ready/smart enough/brave enough? I get it. Ask yourself: How did I need to grow to meet this moment?

That’s All, Folks!

Wowzers, thanks for sticking with me all the way here! I’m hopeful at least one thing on this list got you feeling energized. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or wishing you could do more, it might be a good idea to start here, instead of going right to action:

How to Re-Resource Ourselves

I’ll see you on my live later today (right??) and if you’re in STL I’ll see you at Tower Grove Pride next weekend! I’m also hosting an event in STL, for free, in ONE WEEK! I’m burying it here at the bottom of the email so only the cool kids see it, but I’d love to see you there! We’ll be talking about all things hope and change. https://partiful.com/e/M1PzHWoMA5drFVUtBiN5

Now that’s truly all. Thanks folks!! Don’t forget to share this so I can hit my goal of 20,000 subscribers by the end of October!