The Time for Allyship: Supporting Trans Individuals
Now is the time for allies to step up and protect and support trans and other LGBTQ+ individuals. Trump has passed several executive orders, including one “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which is aimed at creating undue fear in the public toward those who exist outside a traditional gender binary. The executive order establishes gender as only a male-female dichotomy determined by one’s sex assigned at birth and actively harms trans, nonbinary, and intersex people. This order extends to government identification (such as passports), using pronouns in emails, blocking research grants, and more.
The executive order goes on to state that “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being.” Anyone who considers themselves a feminist should be appalled by this statement. No one’s gender identity threatens your identity.
Erasing someone’s gender identity actively threatens their life. There was a 700%increase in crisis calls from LBGTQ+ youth the day after the 2024 election. Anti-transgender laws cause up to a 72% increase in suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth. Lives are on the line.
What can allies do?
Be prepared to fight misinformation
The US Trans Survey interviews over 92,000 trans individuals and provides valuable insights into their lived experiences, safety, health, housing, and more. Verified information—including data that nearly all respondents (94%) who have a gender identity other than the one they were assigned at birth reported that they were either “a lot more satisfied” (79%) or “a little more satisfied” (15%) with their life having chosen to embrace their true gender identitiy—help to share true stories of trans individuals and fight bigotry.
Allow individuals to self-identify and use their gender identity
Private companies can and should allow individuals to embrace their true gender identities rather than just their sex-assigned at birth. When collecting this information, organizations should be careful to use the terminology of gender identity rather than ‘sex’. Someone’s gender identity is not something that should be disclosed or discussed without their permission. Allowing individuals to feel safe in their gender identity and gender expression creates a more inclusive and psychologically safe working environment.
Leaders need to model inclusive behavior
While the federal government has issued agency-wide directives to remove pronouns from email signatures and terminated contracts related to LGBTQ+ equity, private companies are not required to follow suit. Rather than kowtowing to fear, as Deloitte did, organizations can allow individuals to state their preferred pronouns.
This starts with leadership. When leaders engage first, individuals may feel safer expressing their preferred identity. This is an opportunity for allies to provide safety and coverage for those who are more at risk.
In the words of US District Judge Ana Reyes, “If our military is negatively impacted [by pronouns] in any kind of way that matters, we have a military that is incompetent. Any common sense human being knows that it doesn’t. It is pretext. It is frankly ridiculous.”
If you or a loved one are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
