Where we Won in 2025
A recap of a good queer 2025, and where we go from here!
Howdy, folks. It’s been a hell of a year, hasn’t it? I know for a lot of us, this year has been one of both immeasurable heaviness and fear, but also perhaps new levels of involvement, intentionality, and hope.
Though it might not feel like it because of the constant state of panic the Trump admin works hard to maintain, this year has been a truly remarkable one.
To be clear, I’m not saying that we were wrong to be afraid, or that everything has been fine. It’s not. It’s been a heavy year and so many people that I love have gotten hurt. But as I’ve spoken about many times before, hope and joy are battle tactics, and celebrating what we’ve fought for is an amazing way to keep us moving ahead.
Before we get into the meat, I have a few research studies I’ve learned about that are looking for participants! All of these studies are from people that I trust and know personally, and getting involved in research helps contribute to improved understanding, resources, and support for the queer community and our allies.
Project EQuIP study on therapy for queer women!: Recruiting queer women over the age of 18, living in NY, NJ, or PA. Eligible participants would get 3-4 months of LGBTQ-affirmative therapy and would be compensated up to $260 for completing surveys and interviews to track their progress. (Yale)
A study for a new App called “The Guide” to improve mental health outcomes for Trans and Gender Expansive young adults (18-29). (Harvard)
Interviews for a master’s thesis in Nutrition and Dietetics about the experiences of BIPOC transgender people who’ve undergone eating disorder treatment. (St. Louis University)
Where we won!!!
Strap in, folks. It’s a lot! I’ve aimed to be as concise as possible so I can include as many wins as I can, but I’ve also linked to all my sources so you can dig in where you’re excited to learn more.
Electorally:
As of May 2025, there were over 1,300 LGBTQ+ elected officials currently holding public office. How amazing is that? Since 2017, trans and nonbinary representation in public office has risen by over 1800%
In the 2025 election cycle, we saw a BLOWOUT series of victories from openly trans and queer candidates breaking barriers to totally flipped school boards in small towns. There were massive overperformances by democrats across the board, particularly in races where GOP folks tried to campaign on the familiar platform of “trans people are bad”. Virginia flipped their governor, Lt. governor, attorney general, and house of delegates, and New York City elected a mayor who was proudly vocal in his support for his trans constituents. These elections smell like change is in the water–not just in terms of a fantastic midterms performance next year, but also in terms of a shift towards more progressive politics within the democratic party.
There’s at least one trans candidate newly entering public office this year that I’m particularly jazzed about… and no spoilers but you might be getting to hear from her directly next week!
Legally:
Remember team, so much of our legal strategy is about reducing harm as much as possible. For passports, for example, even though we are currently sitting with a rough ruling from the Supreme court, we created a months long window where so many people were able to get affirming documents. This is amazing!
Since the start of the Trump administration, an organization called Just Security has been tracking every lawsuit against his executive actions (not just LGBTQ+ specific suits, but also things like climate, immigration, and more). Here’s where we stand so far:
Presidencies are temporary (despite what your doomscrolling might be telling you), and our ability to throw literally hundreds of costly, time-consuming roadblocks in front of him is an amazing way to limit harm, ruin DOJ morale/staffing numbers, and force his team to give up on some issues to be able to keep working on others.
These numbers also speak to something wonderful: our advocates are PREPARED. We came into this presidency charged up and ready to go, and these legal organizations like A4TE, Glad Law, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU have worked tirelessly to keep our community safe. It’s not just queer orgs, either. I’ve been SO thrilled to see so many state Attorney Generals (a role, I’ll admit, I barely understood until this year) standing incredibly firm in their support for trans kids and their families.
I love a superhuman like Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, who so casually told Trump she’d “see him in court” when he asked why she wasn’t following his directives on banning trans students from sports. She did end up seeing him in court… and beating him too!
Culture Wins:
I know how things might feel from looking only at the news or social media, but as I’ve written about many times before, from here on the ground things look pretty different. The PFLAG chapters I join are getting more full than ever. There are more churches reaching out ready to get involved with advocacy. The small town advocacy groups are deciding to think bigger, to make real changes in their neighborhoods. Last fall, I spent nearly four months on the road talking to people all over the country (mostly in small towns and “red” states) and found my heart deeply bolstered by the amount of beautiful stories of change I got to witness everywhere. If you want to read a recap of that journey, check out this article here:
None of this is happening by accident. People are finally feeling bold enough to confront their uncle about his transphobic comments, or to come out to grandma not knowing how she’ll react All these conversations that turn trans and queer folks from an issue into a person are genuinely moving people.
Resistance Wins:
I’ve been so, so pleased at the scope, strategy, and courage of the countless forms of resistance we’ve seen around the country. From record-shattering No Kings Day protests to the Portland Frog.
This article, from whom I sourced the image, is an excellent description of “tactical frivolity” which is a new term for me that I am immediately obsessed with.
In my new home in Southern California, I’ve seen the beautiful ways our community rallied to care for and protect our immigrant neighbors, efforts that have been replicated in every city where ICE has deigned to plant their vile boots.
Five of the biggest school districts in Virginia have stood up to funding threats from the department of education, and when Rainbow crosswalks are banned, people show up with chalk, and bike racks, and church steps, and flashlights, and anything else they can think of to bring the color back into their communities. When DOGE cut funding for queer historical markers across the state of Ohio, a group of lesbian activists and historians sprung into action to fund it themselves, and then the grant was restored!
I hear about doctors planning to open private clinics to get around HHS attacks, and the Trans Youth Emergency Project and Elevated Access connecting so many youth to resources around the country, and Point of Pride helping cover healthcare costs, and TransSanta making sure trans folks get to feel loved during the holidays, and FUTR fighting to elect trans candidates, and PFLAG v. Trump being the coolest lawsuit title of all time. Our resistance is everywhere.
The Wins we Cannot Measure:
If you are reading this, it means you have survived. We are still living. We are still going to school. We are still getting married, which remains fully legal and protected in The US and additionally protected newly in the European Union. We are still getting affirming haircuts and creating theater and writing books and making art and seeing incredible queer stories all around us.
My wife and I are starting IVF and getting ready to have a freakin’ baby!!!! The world is continuing to spin, and we are continuing to stand on this strange little orb and asking how we can better take care of each other.
Erin Reed wrote a really phenomenal piece a few weeks ago titled “The Case for Hope: Transgender Rights Going into 2026” to summarize many of the areas we have successfully fought back, as well as the areas we thought would be bigger problems by now:
“Looking more broadly, there is no national federal bathroom ban. There is no total national ban on transgender youth healthcare. There is no nationwide sports ban enacted through a law passed by Congress—and many states continue to protect transgender participation in sports, despite capitulation by national sports organizations. Numerous states are still maintaining sanctuary-style protections, and people continue to travel across state lines to access the care they need. Quite simply, the administration is failing—often spectacularly—at erasing transgender people. They are making our lives harder, yes, but many of us are finding strength in community, sharing information, and relying on word of mouth to navigate around restrictions that are often riddled with holes and, with enough effort, still bypassable.”
We have so much further to go. We have so much at stake. We have so much we’ve lost. We have so many of our community members, especially trans women, trans kids, and black and brown trans people who are carrying far, far too much pain. And we will keep fighting this fight. We are alive. We are here. We are powerful. We are united. We are scrappy. We are ambitious. We are dreaming. We are loved, and we are not giving up.
A question I ask myself often when going through something difficult in my life is “how do I need to grow to be able to meet this moment?” I think this year was a year in which a lot of us were asking that question. And my God, how we’ve grown. Look at how we’ve met this moment. It is nothing short of incredible to behold.
If you’re deciding you want to get more involved but are feeling a little nervous, don’t forget to check out one of my favorite pieces I’ve written:
Rest assured, there will be plenty more to do in the year to come. That’s all I’ve got for you today. But don’t forget to leave a comment letting me know what your favorite victory was from this year. What did I miss?
That’s all he wrote! Until next time. All my love,
Ben
Always grateful for the reminder that we will always be here. 💖
Gosh, I just love you for compiling these updates for us. Stay strong and keep doing the Good Work!! ❤️❤️❤️