Transgender and nonbinary people across the United States — and across the globe — are in a time of relentless persecution, facing bans to healthcare and participation in athletics, and even being stripped of their very legal identification.
Laws and policies enacted to erase trans lives seem to come from every direction — over 500 bills across 37 states have been introduced to block trans rights in 2026 alone, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
But as insurmountable as this hate may seem, love and celebration are the mightiest tools at our disposal. And they often win!
Over the last 15 years, advocates have defeated roughly 90% of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced across the country, according to Logan Casey, the director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project.
While these proposed bills are frightening and must be taken seriously, it’s equally important to have context about the effectiveness of fighting back.
Ben Greene, a trans author, advocate, and speaker behind the newsletter “Good Queer News” gives allies 50 introductory actions to take to do just that.
Original content lightly edited for length and clarity.
By the way, some of the links in this article (like books!) are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
50 Things You Can Do For Trans Rights
10 Ways To Learn More About Trans Rights
- Listen to “Tested” by NPR and CBC, a podcast mini-series about the complicated history of sex testing in women’s sports.
- Read “Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender” by Dr. Kit Heyam for a long-term, global history of trans people. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Transgender History: A Resource for Today’s Struggle — And Tomorrow’s” by Susan Stryker for a more recent history of trans communities and advocacy. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Marsha: The Joy & Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by Tourmaline to learn about Black trans pioneers. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity” by Dr. Devon Price for a primer on the science and sociology of transness and neurodivergence. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Stone Butch Blues” by Leslie Feinberg, a pivotal trans historical novel. (Amazon)
- Read “American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era” by Nico Lang for a modern-day story of political impact on young trans people. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism” by Julia Serano for a primer on transmisogyny. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Who’s Afraid of Gender?” by Judith Butler to understand why people are so upset about trans folks. (Bookshop) (Amazon)
- Read “Transness is Healing,” a zine by psychologists Sebastian Barr and Joonwoo Lee.
10 Ways To Support A Trans Friend
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 suppressed by most social media algorithms.
- Send a “support menu” with options of tactical support you are willing and able to provide.
- Offer to go with them to bureaucratic spaces that can be more hostile or stressful, like passport appointments, doctor’s offices, DMV, court hearings for name change, etc.
- 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.
- Whenever a particularly heinous headline or executive order drops, invite them to hang out for a fun or restorative no-phones-no-news activity.
- 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.
- Venmo them $10 for ice cream or buy them a copy of your favorite book. This is a personal favorite.
- 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?”
10 Ways to Support Trans Youth
- Buy, read, and share “My Child is Trans, Now What?” (by me)
- Use Rebecca Minor’s website to donate copies of her amazing new book, “Raising Trans Kids” to community centers, libraries, and families in need.
- 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 demand those hospitals restore legal, safe healthcare.
- 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.
- Create a space where young trans folks 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.
- 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.
- Engage with your local PFLAG or TransParent chapter. Some chapters focus only on support, but many have undertaken many advocacy initiatives as well. Volunteer!
- Buy them a book with a trans character who shares as many identity characteristics with them as possible. Help them see themselves in stories.
- Follow Tina from Tertium Quid on Substack, 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.
- Help them find safe and affirming spaces where they can gather. For me, I love to support 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 Ways to Support Trans Rights With Your Money
- Find out what the important local races are in your state or community: State house, school board, library board, city council — it all counts. Donate to the campaign of an explicitly pro-trans candidate. (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!)
- 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.
- Shop at trans-owned and allied businesses! Boycotting is hard, and rather than focusing on changing your habits around avoidance, pick one or two local trans owned/affirming businesses and make visiting them a regular habit.
- 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.
- Donate to a mutual aid fund, which helps meet urgent needs for people in your community.
- Donate to PROMO Missouri, an organization building an ambitious strategy to change the landscape of trans rights in Missouri, which could change the realm of what’s possible for trans rights across the country.
- Donate to your state or local equality organization, or a local direct services organization providing resources to the local community.
- Have big money to donate? Find someone on GoFundMe who is fundraising for gender-affirming surgery, or for a cross-country move for safety. Pay the gap.
- Buy 10 copies of your favorite trans-authored book from a local bookstore, then drop them off in Little Free Libraries around your city or town.
- 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 Creative Ways To Show Up For Trans Rights
- 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 joining at least one call to action from each.
- Sign up for the mailing list for Advocates For Trans Equality and engage with their volunteer actions to build trans power across the United States!
- Extrovert or storyteller? Look up if a local organization is doing any deep canvassing in your area and join in.
- Are there any ballot initiatives in your state for trans/queer equality? Sign up to collect signatures!
- 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.
- 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.
- Encourage your workplace to host 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!)
- 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?
- Pick a local body: school board, library board, PTA, or city council — and learn more about their history. Show up to meetings so that you can let local organizers know when something is coming up that will need a crowd rallied for it.
- 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?
A version of this article was originally published in The 2026 Pride Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
You may also like: Comedian Caleb Hearon matches $15K in fan donations for Transgender Day of Visibility
Header image by Patrick Perkins on Unsplash
