In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled the legalization of same-sex marriage across the United States.
This was a major win for the LGBTQ+ community not only in the US but around the world, but it didn't come easily.
The LGBTQ+ community had been fighting for years for this human right and even though different states legalized this before, it was a major sign of progression that everyone in America now had the right to marry who they wanted.
Who knows, if we had a different president at the time, things might not have worked out the same way or as soon as they did. But we fought and made it happen.
Now when I say "we," I mean the ENTIRE LGBTQ+ community. We protested, voted, educated, and paraded. Although this is my opinion, I don't believe "we" would be doing anything without Marsha P. Johnson. Oh, have you never heard of Marsha?
She was a BLACK, TRANSGENDER, BISEXUAL WOMAN
who helped spearhead the LGBTQ+ rights movement in the US, starting with the Stonewall Riots. She was a major voice in the community and despite her multiple oppressed identities, she fought for everyone. Unfortunately, Marsha "allegedly" committed suicide in 1992 and never got to see all the progress she had a hand in creating.
Marsha and many other transgender, nonbinary, and other gender non-conforming individuals fought for our right to marry who we wanted, even though that could have not been their struggle. Almost everyone is well versed in "LGBPQ" (lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and queer) identities.
You hear "love is love" and although that is completely true, people are people as well.
And trans* individuals do not deserve to be left in the dust while everyone else lives their happily ever after lives marrying who they want.
In 2018, three years after marriage equality, the Trump Administration has made claims to redefine gender and further oppress, unrecognize, and potentially erase transgender and gender non-conforming people. So while all of us cisgender gays have the right to love who we want, the trans* community is literally having their rights taken away. And I promise you, the trans* community is fighting, but for the most part, they are fighting alone. Cis people, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, we need to do better.
We are the ones with the cis privilege and we have the power to change the minds of other cis people.
We have the voice and we have the platform.
The trans* community is doing the best they can and they need and better yet, deserve our support. It is our job as members of the LGBTQ+ community to stand with our fellow community members and fight for them just like they fought for us.
It costs you nothing to be a trans* ally. Sharing your pronouns, going to the bathroom with your trans* friends/family, making sure they get home safe, educating others (in the LGBTQ+ community or not) on trans rights, stopping transphobia when you see it, and breaking down gender norms and the gender binary are simple and relatively safe tasks for cis people and can make a world of difference for trans* people.
We need to do better.
This country is a scary place for a lot of people, but when the president of this country is actively trying to erase a group of people, that is when things become terrifying. USE your cisprivilege, EDUCATE yourself, FIGHT for trans* rights, and don't let your identity (whatever it may be) make you ignore the oppression of the trans* community.
Their fight is our fight, just like our fight was theirs.
