Moreover, the LGB community has recognized that fighting for trans rights is fighting for the foundation of LGBTQ identity: the right to self-determination. If a society can deny a trans person the right to define their own gender, that same society can use its logic to police the boundaries of sexuality. As the legal scholar and activist Dean Spade argues, the systems that police gender (bathroom bills, ID laws) are the same systems that police gay and lesbian existence. In the 2020s, the transgender community is at the center of a global culture war. While LGB rights have largely become settled law in many Western nations (with marriage equality and workplace protections), trans rights are the current battleground.
The health of LGBTQ culture today can be measured by how it treats its trans members. When a gay bar is a safe space for a non-binary teen, when a lesbian book club welcomes a trans woman, when a bisexual man defends a trans coworker’s bathroom rights—that is solidarity in action.
While united under a common banner of fighting cis-heteronormativity (the assumption that heterosexual and cisgender identities are the norm), the transgender experience is uniquely distinct from that of LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual) individuals. For the LGB community, the core struggle has historically revolved around sexual orientation —who you love. For the transgender community, the struggle revolves around gender identity —who you are.
In this environment, LGBTQ culture has largely rallied around its trans members. Major LGB organizations (like the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD) have made trans inclusion a top priority. Most Pride parades now center trans flags and voices. The phrase has become a unifying slogan across the entire spectrum of queer identity.