Trans and gender nonconforming young people of color continue to be at the front lines of vicious and persistent attacks on their identities in schools and communities across the country. Time and time again, it is trans and gender conforming young people of color who are among the first to show up, speak out, and fight back.
In a sign of strength, courage and community, the National TRUTH Council launched a petition calling on our community and those allied with our movement to show up for trans youth after The New York Times reported on the extent to which federal agencies–this time Department of Health and Human Services in coordination with at least 4 other agencies, including the Department of Education– will go to erase our existence and curtail existing legal protections. TRUTH, a collaborative project between GSA Network and Transgender Law Center, is a youth-led program for trans and gender nonconforming young people to build public understanding, empathy, and a movement for liberation through storytelling and media organizing.
“This is a continuation of willful acts by the current administration to exterminate transgender people through a government that has never existed to protect trans folks,” reads the petition. “Sign on to our petition in solidarity with transgender, nonbinary, and/or GNC youth to commit to show up for us by supporting the trans community and taking action against transphobia. Share this petition to educate others on the effects of this memo on trans youth and uplift our response. While the government has been clear about their lack of commitment to the lives of queer and trans people, especially poor Black/brown queer/trans young people, we know we are on the right side of history and we will never stop fighting.”
We are appalled that the current administration continues to take every opportunity imaginable to deny the presence of trans and gender nonconforming people. The next several weeks will be critical as federal agencies continue to work together to roll back the progress we’ve achieved. At GSA Network, we will continue to uplift the voices of trans and gender nonconforming youth and demonstrate that it is impossible to erase who they are and what they’re doing every day in their communities to fight for gender justice.