The ghosts of Stonewall are watching: How trans activists are channeling history in the fight for their lives

Chase Strangio stood before the Supreme Court on a cold December morning, the weight of history pressing against his shoulders. As the first openly transgender attorney to argue before the nation’s highest court, he carried not just legal briefs but the echoes of protests past – from the Stonewall uprising to the Compton Cafeteria riots, trans people have created a legacy of fighting for justice.

Outside, hundreds of protesters pressed against police barricades, their chants rising above the marble columns. The demonstration was organized by Gender Liberation Movement (GLM), a national collective that builds direct action, media, and policy interventions focused on bodily autonomy and self-determination in response to gender-based threats.

“They want trans people to no longer exist,” said Eliel Cruz, co-founder of GLM. “And young people are the way to begin that kind of larger project.”

The grassroots group has emerged as a significant force in coordinating nationwide protests against gender-based restrictions, combining street demonstrations with policy advocacy. As the Supreme Court heard arguments inside, GLM activists led chants demanding protection for transgender healthcare rights.

The next day, 15 activists were arrested in a Capitol bathroom protest against new restrictions proposed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) – restrictions targeting even Congress’s first openly transgender member, Sarah McBride (D-Del.). Among those detained were Raquel Willis, a Black transgender activist known for leading the historic Brooklyn Liberation March and her rallying cry “I believe in Black trans power,” and Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who served seven years in prison for leaking classified documents about civilian casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the bathroom restrictions in a statement, saying single-sex facilities in the Capitol are “reserved for individuals of that biological sex.” Supporters of similar state-level restrictions argue they protect women’s privacy rights.

“Women deserve women-only spaces,” Johnson said to The Tennessean, echoing sentiments from conservative lawmakers who have introduced similar measures in state legislatures.

The parallels to history are not lost on today’s movement leaders. As Republican-led states advance hundreds of bills restricting transgender rights and healthcare, activists move in lockstep with pioneers like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. But this time, the battleground isn’t just the city streets, but also the marble corridors of power, and the weapons are legal briefs instead of bricks.

How LGBTQ+ activism made everything better for everyone

LGBTQ+ activists have emerged as a cornerstone for civil rights movements in the United States. “We are part of every community considered from the point of view of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, and class,” said Chris Sanders, executive director at the Tennessee Equality Project (TNEP.) “So we are affected by all forms of discrimination.”

Sanders highlighted historic figures like Pauli Murray, civil rights activist, lawyer, and co-founder of the National Organization for Women, who they say used both she/her and they/them pronouns; Audre Lorde, a pioneer in Black feminism; and Bayard Rustin, a core architect of the historic March on Washington, who adapted civil disobedience tactics from organizers in India, which established an iconic strategy of the Civil Rights Era.

The list goes on. Larry Kramer, a Jewish American and founder of ACT UP during the HIV/AIDS pandemic, influenced healthcare policymakers including Anthony Fauci, who referenced Kramer during COVID-19. Trans figures fought in several instances to protect the First Amendment right of peaceful assembly and the constitutional rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Such examples include Tamara Ching, a trans Asian American woman at the Compton Cafeteria uprising, and Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera at Stonewall, all three women mobilizing against police brutality. Meanwhile, Harry Weider, a hard of hearing child of Holocaust survivors with dwarfism, joined ACT UP and advocated for public housing.

Kiyoshi Kuromiya, an openly gay Japanese American and survivor of World War II internment, marched with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Selma and served as his personal assistant. When King was assassinated, Kuromiya looked after King’s children. In 1970, Kuromiya served as the only openly gay panelist at the Black Panther Convention, representing the Gay Liberation Front Philadelphia chapter; that same year, Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton endorsed LGBTQ+ and women’s liberation movements.

“The visibility and success of LGBTQ+ rights movements have sparked broader conversations about intersectionality, encouraging other marginalized groups to advocate for their rights,” said Manuel Hernández, who uses pronouns li/naya and he/they. Hernández serves as the executive director of ALMA Chicago, which since the AIDS epidemic has advocated for the fair treatment and equality of the Latinx LGBTQ+ community. “This ripple effect has made the fight for equality more comprehensive and interconnected.”

Trans people are still left behind

Despite broader LGBTQ+ gains, trans people find themselves excluded while being drastically impacted by modern political debates. While the recent election cycle ushered in the historic election of openly trans Sarah McBride to Congress, less than 1% of U.S. elected officials identify publicly as LGBTQ+. Since 2017, the Victory Institute tracked a 6% decrease in elections of trans people amid increases in elections of other LGBTQ+ candidates. Representation in office continues to be dominated by cis white gay men. This underrepresentation leaves transgender people vulnerable to discrimination and political exploitation from both parties, advocates say.

Blossom C. Brown, an Afro-Native trans activist based in Los Angeles, with appearances on the trans rights podcast Transparency and in viral content at Jubiliee’s Middle Ground debates, said, “We are the easiest community to be used for political points by politicians, including some Democrats.”

In 2015, Jennicet Gutierrez, co-founder of trans Latine advocacy group Familia TQLM, confronted then President Barack Obama during a White House Pride Month reception about gender-based violence against trans women in ICE detention centers. Security removed her from the event, and media outlets described her actions as heckling. During her 2024 presidential run, Vice President Kamala Harris received endorsements from several major LGBTQ+ organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and the National LGBTQ Task Force. However, trans speakers were excluded from the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

In 2018, then president Donald Trump referred to migrant caravans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as “hardened criminals.” Some of the earliest known caravans consisted primarily of transgender migrates, displaced by internal conflicts including U.S.-backed coups across Latin America and targeted by police due to gender identity, self-expression, and sexual orientation.

In August 2017, the Transgender Law Center recorded the first known official migrant Rainbow Caravan, 11 of whom were trans and the rest LGB. The following year, several LGBTQ+ couples married at the border with Mexico before crossing over.

Cruz also warned of parallel and potentially deadly consequences similar to the struggle for abortion rights. “We are going to have thousands and thousands of families and trans young people unable to access that care,” he said. “We’ll need to find either ways to get it illegally in their state, or they might have to flee.”

Transgender people have begun leaving the United States. They have fled to New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, and other countries where immigration policies welcome trans asylum seekers. According to a 2023 report from Data for Progress, 41% of trans adults and 43% of trans people aged 18-24 have considered moving. Eight percent of trans adults, including those aged 18-24, have already left, alongside 9% of LGBTQ+ adults 65 or older.

“The SCOTUS ruling will have a much more impact on the trans community than it will the LGBTQ community as a whole,” said Brown. “We must wake that up in this movement.”

What’s at stake

As the protests at the Supreme Court over healthcare for trans youth remain at the forefront of the debate, gender-affirming care also applies to cisgenderpeople. A Hastings Center report found that cisgender make up the majority of those seeking gender-affirming care. “These issues have systematically contributed to our detriment,” said Brown. “[S]ystemic oppression…tries to keep us as the ‘outsider.’ But truth is we are far from it!”

In November 2024, TNEP and other groups successfully fought off a second conservative proposal in Tennessee’s Knox County campaign to “protect child innocence” by cutting funding to programs deemed sexually explicit. Opponents called it “undefined,” while the four-page document defined prohibited content as “harmful to minors,” “matter,” “nudity,” “obscene,” “prurient interest,” and “sexual conduct.” Several nonprofits argued that such a vague resolution threatened services, such as programs that respond to and protect children from abuse. Critics called it a thinly disguised anti-drag initiative, which could have had drastic repercussions on the entire state.

Thirty-five state constitutions still ban marriage equality. While federal courts overruled these bans in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015, some legal experts worry the current court could overturn that decision as it did with abortion.

Other SCOTUS rulings have undone LGBTQ+ efforts regarding universal human rights, including work and healthcare discrimination. In 2023, the Supreme Court sided with Lorie Smith, a wedding website designer, declaring that she could deny a gay couple services. However, the case centered on a straight man married to a woman who claimed that he never submitted a request. This ruling now means that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender, can be denied services.

In July this year, the Biden administration was unable to enforce new rules affirming healthcare for trans U.S. citizens. The SCOTUS overturning of the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ruling weakened federal enforcement of regulations and reduced the political authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, creating an unforeseen connection between trans rights and climate justice.

In 2017, the same year as the Rainbow Caravan, the Trump administration ordered the end of the DACA program, which SCOTUS reversed in 2020. Trump’s vows of mass deportation, partially which incorporated his twisting of the trans struggle to fit his agenda, could threaten the livelihood of many people essential to the U.S. economy, like the agriculture sector, which employs a 73% migrant workforce.

What comes next

As a common practice, activists center the needs of the most marginalized to create universal solutions. Cruz said that by addressing the needs of Black trans women, including disabled Black trans undocumented women with English as a second language, the rights and needs of all will be served. “This is true for all Americans,” he said. “It’s not some special thing that only Black trans people or queer trans people need.”

Amid 574 anti-LGBTQ bills circulating across state legislatures and the resulting mental health crisis for trans youth, organizers plan to follow the trans legacy of activism and continue to pressure the Supreme Court to side with them through direct action. “We will never give up on our trans youth,” said Brown. “I have hope and faith that the LGBTQ community will respond with even more powerful mechanisms of change.”

Sanders encouraged activists to show up for TNEP’s Zoom phone banks and “Day on the Hill” action to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights, which they will announce later.

In Chicago, Hernández indicated that ALMA will mobilize through educating the wider community about transgender issues and collaborating with legal organizations like Equality Illinois. ALMA currently offers empowerment and economic mobility through programs like its Latinx LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leadership Institute. “Where possible, we’ll also explore ways to offer financial support to trans youth and families navigating new legal or medical challenges,” said Hernández.

In New York City, Cruz called for increased volunteer and financial support of the Transgender Law Center and other trans-led legal efforts nationwide.

“We’ve made America a better place by pushing for inclusivity,” said Brown. “Unfortunately there are groups who are threatened by this. Not our problem! We will continue the fight.”

Rohan Zhou-Lee (They/Siya/祂(Tā)/Elle) is a queer/nonbinary Black Asian dancer, writer, and organizer. A 2023 Open City Fellow at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, they have written for Newsweek, Prism Reports, NextShark, and more. Siya is also the founder of the award-winning Blasian March, a Black-Asian-Blasian grassroots solidarity organization, and for their work has been featured on CNN, NBC Chicago, USA Today, WNYC, and more. Zhou-Lee has spoken on organizing, human rights, and other subjects at New York University, The University of Tokyo, the 2022 Unite and Enough Festivals in Zürich, Switzerland, Harvard University, and more. www.diaryofafirebird.com