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From the Front Lines: Fighting for Transgender Rights in a Critical Moment

Blog by Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Queer and Transgender Rights

Jennifer Levi in a light blue button-down shirt in front of a blurred green outdoor background
Jennifer Levi

I’m writing this from a hotel room in DC, looking across the green to the Capitol, after one of the most intense weeks of my 30-year legal career. The pace and scope of what we’re facing is unprecedented, but GLAD Law is doing what we’ve always done: standing firm, acting swiftly, and fighting strategically for justice.

This past Monday, I caught a late flight to DC for an emergency hearing Tuesday morning. We were defending transgender women who had been suddenly removed from their general population housing in women’s prisons, placed in special housing units (SHU), and faced imminent transfer to men’s facilities. They were also at risk of having their essential medical care terminated.

While still in that hearing, I was called to chambers for another emergency matter – this one involving our challenge to the military ban. We had just over two hours to prepare. When we first filed our challenge, we thought there might be a brief window before the ban went into effect. That changed within hours, when we learned of a transgender woman pulled from basic training and pressured to sign a document denying who she is. When she couldn’t sign the form, she was removed from her barracks and placed in an isolated room with a single cot away from her peers. In the emergency hearing, when the government couldn’t assure the Court they would stop restricting her training, we knew we had to act fast.

By late yesterday evening, after intense legal wrangling, we secured a crucial ruling protecting our plaintiffs from any changes to their conditions of service. It’s an important victory, but just one battle in what we know will be a long campaign.

What we’re facing now is different from previous challenges to transgender rights. This isn’t just about specific policies or programs – it’s a coordinated effort to prevent transgender people from functioning in society at all. After decades during which transgender Americans have built lives, served their country, and contributed to their communities under the protection of civil rights laws, we’re seeing systematic attempts to shut us out of public life entirely.

I’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and I stand on the shoulders of giants – Mary Bonauto, Ben Klein, Gary Buseck, and our founder John Ward, among others. GLAD Law has always been courageous, nimble, strategic, and bold. That’s exactly what this moment demands.

These early court victories are crucial – they give us time to build stronger protections and help the American public understand what’s really at stake. Because this isn’t just about transgender rights. It’s about whether we will remain a nation governed by law rather than arbitrary power.

Looking out my window at the Capitol, I won’t pretend I’m not distressed by what I see. I do question our future. But I remain absolutely resolute in doing this work, as does everyone at GLAD Law. We’ve faced seemingly impossible odds before. We’ve prevailed because we’ve stayed focused, strategic, and unwavering in our commitment to justice.

The path ahead won’t be easy. But I know that with sustained determination and support, we can protect our communities and democracy. Thank you for standing with us in this critical moment.

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The Resistance Brief: This week in the fight for justice 

Blog by Ricardo Martinez (he/him), Executive Director

As a 14-year-old kid on a field trip to the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City 30 years ago, I learned about ACT UP and the importance of responding to a crisis with urgency and strategic action.

GLAD Law has taken immediate steps to challenge the Trump administration’s harrowing and unconstitutional Executive Orders targeting our community, filing three new cases in the last two weeks. We secured an order blocking enforcement of Sections 4(a) and 4(c) of Trump’s January 20 so-called “gender ideology” order. Those sections unlawfully seek to house transgender women in men’s prisons – exposing them to an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault – and to take away necessary medical care. We also filed a challenge to Trump’s transgender military ban Executive Order, which demeans and dishonors transgender servicemembers. GLAD Law attorneys were in court over multiple days this week ensuring our plaintiffs will not face separation from the military or other adverse treatment while we plan for the first full hearing in the case on February 18. Read the op-ed from Jennifer Levi and Shannon Minter, the lead attorneys on the case.

The swift, strategic steps we have taken to use the law to stop, delay, and reduce the harm of Trump’s Executive Orders have been nothing short of inspiring. 

The GLAD Law team has also been working hard to provide support and guidance to our entire community during this tremendously destabilizing time. Our confidential legal helpline, GLAD Law Answers, fielded 341 intake calls in January alone. We also hosted an educational briefing about the current legal landscape for which over 1600 people registered. We will continue to provide information and guidance for our community as we navigate the weeks and months ahead. 

We are experiencing a sustained campaign aimed at making it impossible for transgender people to function in society. And we know that denying basic rights to one group of people without resistance and defiant opposition puts the rights of all of us at risk. By taking quick and decisive action, we send a message that we intend to continue our legacy of protecting the rights and liberty of all LGBTQ+ people and those with HIV and that it is not permissible to tread on anyone’s rights. We, the people, will continue to defend the fundamental principle that equal protection under the law is guaranteed to all of us without exception. 

At the same time, we continue the necessary work to defend against any attempt to reverse the Supreme Court’s 2015 marriage equality decision, protect LGBTQ+ families, increase access and remove barriers to PrEP, and strengthen existing nondiscrimination laws. 

Before I began my tenure as Executive Director of GLAD Law, I was familiar with our legacy, but it wasn’t until I began working with this talented team that I understood the enormous value we bring to the movement. I wish you could see the countless ways they contribute every day to making the world a better place. I’ve watched our staff go above and beyond to ensure that we not only have a chance to survive the next four years but that we are concurrently building towards a future that delivers the healing, reconciliation, prosperity and collective safety we all deserve. 

What to know, what to do:  

  • Access our list of resources for LGBTQ+ People Under the Trump Administration 
  • Sign up to receive updates on GLAD Law’s challenges to Trump’s Executive Orders and other important work for LGBTQ+ rights

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Making Sense of the Trump Administration’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Orders

NOTE: This blog was published on February 4, 2025. Since then, the Trump administration has issued new executive orders impacting our community. For more up-to-date information, visit our page, “Information for LGBTQ+ People Under the Trump Administration.”

Blog by Ricardo Martinez, Executive Director

As we expected, we’ve seen multiple directives coming from the Trump administration in its first two weeks with the potential to affect the lives of LGBTQ+ people and their families. I know it’s overwhelming and you’re worried. GLAD Law will do our very best to keep you up to date.

Executive Orders Explained

To begin, most of the new directives came in the form of Executive Orders (EOs) from President Trump. So what, exactly, is an EO? 

An EO is a directive from the President, usually issued to guide federal agencies in their work.

EOs cannot change federal law, like Title VII and Title IX, which provide protections to LGBTQ+ people. 

EOs can’t change our constitution and the protections we have as LGBTQ+ people under it. They cannot change the role of our courts in interpreting laws and their constitutionality.

Further, state laws still exist and, in many areas, they can address some key concerns we have heard from community members. Visit our LGBTQ+ Protections page for information we have compiled in response to actions at the federal level.

That doesn’t mean EOs cannot cause harm, chaos and confusion, as we saw last week with an order that froze federal funding. 

Implementing EOs can take time and if they’re unconstitutional, they’ll be challenged in court, as we have seen with an EO purporting to end birthright citizenship

In fact, GLAD Law and our partner organizations are already challenging some of the new directives attacking transgender people, which we’ll dive into next.

Sex Discrimination Executive Order

This order is an attempt to regulate and control people’s lives. The Trump administration wants to define all people by their reproductive capacity—an alarming attempt to undo the basic protections that allow transgender people to go about their daily lives. It’s about dictating how trans people, and their families will be allowed to live.

This EO does the following:

  • directs the State Department to stop issuing passports that accurately reflect a trans person’s gender
  • directs the Bureau of Prisons to deny incarcerated transgender people healthcare and appropriate housing
  • directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reverse rules that give trans people safe access to shelters
  • requires federal agencies to remove mention of gender identity from language and forms

STATUS: GLAD Law was first to file a challenge to Sections 4(a) and 4(c) of this EO, which directs the federal Bureau of Prisons to house transgender women in men’s prisons and to unlawfully withhold necessary medical care. Last week, we secured a temporary restraining order in our case Maria Moe v Trump that prevented our client, a transgender woman, from being transferred to a men’s facility and ensured her continuing necessary medical care. We are now awaiting the judge’s further orders in this case, and have filed a second case in D.C. on behalf of incarcerated transgender women also at risk of transfer to a men’s facility and withdrawal of medical care.

Transgender Military Ban Executive Order

This is an order that intends to ban transgender people from enlisting and serving in the military.

Transgender service members must meet the same objective qualifications as everyone else. If they can meet those criteria, it’s harmful for everyone to deny them enlistment or subject them to discharge. Skill, discipline and courage—that’s what matters to military service, not identity.

STATUS: GLAD Law and NCLR filed a federal lawsuit on January 28 challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender people from serving and enlisting in the military. On February 3, we filed for a preliminary injunction in the case, known as Talbott v. Trump, to keep the EO from being implemented during the lawsuit. On February 4, we filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, asking the court for an emergency ruling to stop service members from being separated unlawfully.

Restricting Health Care for Transgender Adolescents Executive Order

This order is intended to be a broad ban on health care for transgender young people under age 19. It seeks to deny coverage for medically necessary care to transgender dependents of federal employees and seeks to ban federal funding for any healthcare organization that provides this necessary and proven healthcare for transgender people under 19. 

This EO continues the Trump Administration’s extreme, needless, and unconstitutional attack on vulnerable transgender Americans. It will deliberately make the daily lives of a very small group of young people and their families painful and more difficult—it’s simply cruel and wrong. 

STATUS: The implementation of this order cannot happen overnight. There is no immediate legal reason for hospitals or clinics to change the care they are providing to transgender youth. While we have unfortunately heard reports of a handful of hospitals pausing care, the majority are continuing to provide care as usual.

We fully expect this executive order to be challenged because it is blatantly unconstitutional. It’s important to remember that a president’s powers are not unlimited—the constitution, federal courts and our democratic system serve as a defense against this type of overreach. 

Removing Protections for LGBTQ+ Youth Schools Executive Order

This EO tries to tell schools to deny the existence of transgender people altogether. It attempts to ban federally funded educational institutions from respecting the identities of transgender and gender non-conforming students, including blocking them from using the correct restroom or participating in athletics, and forces schools to out student to parents if the student requests to be referred to with a different name or pronoun, even if the outing could put the student at risk of harm.

STATUS: While this Executive Order focuses on funding-mechanisms, the legal obligations our public schools have to protect all students’ right to learn remain unchanged. No Executive Order can change the expertise and dedication teachers bring to supporting every learner in the classroom. Fostering supportive environments where every student feels valued and can thrive is as important as ever. We expect this order to be challenged in court.

Please continue to check this space for news and updates about policy changes that affect LGBTQ+ people and their families and how GLAD Law and our partners are responding to each of them. If you have specific questions or concerns about how these changes may affect you individually, please contact us at GLAD Law Answers, our free and confidential legal information and referral service. 

Please take care of yourself, and others as you can. We’re stronger together.

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GLAD Law Welcomes New Board Members and Newly Elected Leadership

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) announces Joseph Metmowlee Garland as the new President of its Board of Directors, Dallas Ducar as Vice President, and Beth Myers as Clerk. The three join Marlene Seltzer who continues as Treasurer, and Shane Dunn, who will remain in leadership as Immediate Past President.

The organization also welcomes new board members Nima Eshghi, an experienced leader in higher education and a former GLAD Law staff attorney; and Matt Wilder, a communications and media strategist with expertise in LGBTQ+ focused campaigns.

“GLAD Law is ready for a challenging political and policy landscape in the coming years and the new Board leadership has the experience and capability needed to aggressively defend and advance protections for LGBTQ+ people and people with HIV,” said Immediate Past President Shane Dunn. “Joe, Dallas, and Beth have been effective and conscientious Board members. Marlene has been an outstanding Treasurer for several years. The entire Board will continue to partner closely with new Executive Director Ricardo Martinez and the most talented staff in the movement to defend, protect, and advance the rights of our community.”

GLAD Law’s biannual Board elections came amid a coordinated nationwide effort to erode, roll back, or restrict rights for LGBTQ+ Americans, especially transgender people and LGBTQ students. In response, with the support of the Board, GLAD Law has grown its legal team and expanded its work both in New England and nationally. 

“I’m honored to serve as President of GLAD Law’s Board of Directors during this pivotal chapter in the organization’s and the LGBTQ+ movement’s history. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Shane for his service and the example of his thoughtful and consistent leadership,”  said Board President Joe Garland. “We’re also thrilled to welcome Nima and Matt, each of whom brings valuable skills and experiences to the Board that we need to further expand GLAD Law’s national reach and ensure our dedicated staff have the tools and resources to sustain the challenging work ahead.”

“The fights to come may be some of the toughest of our lives. Election results across the country, including in New England, may mean an increase in laws that seek to limit or strip away our fundamental rights and freedoms,” said GLAD Law Executive Director Ricardo Martinez. “We’re confident in the strategic vision and leadership of Joe, Dallas, and Beth to keep us moving forward. GLAD Law is also grateful to have Nima and Matt on the Board, as each possesses a commitment to justice and equality for LGBTQ+ people that’s produced tangible benefits for our community.” 

Joe Garland, MD AAHIVS (he/him/his) has served on GLAD Law’s board since 2016. He is the Medical Director of the Infectious Diseases and Immunology Center and the Corliss Street Clinic, both at Brown University Health in Providence, Rhode Island. He also serves as a clinician and a member of the Medical Advisory Board at Clínica Esperanza, also located in Providence. 

Dr Garland is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. As a physician, he provides both primary care and infectious diseases specialty care, with a focus on the prevention and treatment of HIV. He is board certified in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine and is a practicing HIV Specialist of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. 

Dr Garland received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Dallas Ducar, MSN, RN, NP, CNL, FAAN (she/her/ella) has served on GLAD Law’s board since 2022. Dallas Ducar (she/her/ella) is the Executive Vice President of Donor Engagement and External Relations at Fenway Health, a leading LGBTQ+ healthcare center. In the past she served as the founding President and CEO of Transhealth, establishing the first independent, comprehensive transgender health center in Western Massachusetts. A Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Dallas serves on the boards of GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD Law), Healing Our Community Collaborative (HOCC), and the University of Virginia IDEA Fund. Dallas is on faculty at Columbia University, the MGH Institute for Health Professionals, and the University of Virginia. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and holds degrees from the University of Virginia and a certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School. She has formally advised state government leaders, served on the Attorney General’s Official Transition Team, and her advocacy focuses on creating inclusive healthcare systems. Her writings have appeared in outlets such as The Boston Globe, The Hill, Newsweek, and STAT.

Beth Myers (she/her/hers) has served on GLAD Law’s board since 2022. She is a Founding Partner at Zucker Law Group LLP. Beth is respected in her field as a zealous advocate for employees and an experienced litigator. Beth represents individuals in every aspect of the employment relationship, with a particular concentration on litigation in state and federal court in cases involving discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation, as well as wage and hour laws, contract and common law. Beth highly values her role to affect real change in individual’s lives by advocating on their behalf in situations where they have been mistreated in the workplace due to their gender, age, sexual orientation, race, disability status, etc.

Before joining Zucker Law Group LLP, Beth was a partner at the Boston law firms of Powers, Jodoin, Margolis & Mantell LLP and Burns & Levinson. Beth also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Margaret R. Hinkle in the Massachusetts Superior Court, where she developed a passion for the courtroom. Beth received recognition in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers in 2020 and 2021.

As an LGBTQ parent, the causes that GLAD Law fights for align with Beth’s personal and professional values. She is honored to serve as a member of the board of an organization that does for New England and the country what she tries to accomplish on an individual level.

Nima Eshghi (she/her) is Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

She has more than 25 years of professional experience in higher education and the legal profession, including four years as a GLAD Law Staff Attorney from 2006-2010, During her tenure on staff at GLAD Law, she litigated to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, to secure legal protections for non-biological parents, and led efforts to ensure that Massachusetts’ schools remained inclusive of LGBTQ+ families, among other important work. Before joining the GLAD Law staff, Nima served a previous term on the board from 2003-2006 and served as a Spirit of Justice Awards Co-Chair. 

Nima also has experience working on legal issues arising from HIV/AIDS, having represented HIV-affected individuals and families as a staff attorney at the AIDS Law Project of the Harvard Law School, where she also volunteered during law school. 

Following her tenure at GLAD Law, Nima was an Attorney Advisor at Harvard Law School, where she worked closely with students pursuing careers in public interest law. She then served as Assistant Dean for the Center for Cooperative Legal Education and Career Development at Northeastern University School of Law, before joining the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

Nima is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College.

In 2020, Nima was named one of Boston’s 50 Most Influential People of Color in Higher Education by GBH / Get Konnected.

Nima and her wife Kate live in Lincoln, MA. They are the parents of two adult children.

Matt Wilder (he/him) is a communications and media strategist with a passion for telling great stories. With deep roots in the education, government, and non-profit sectors, Matt has crafted and executed communications plans that educated and inspired stakeholders and also moved constituencies to rewrite the narrative, challenge the status quo, and move forward together.

Notably, Matt led the communications for the historic ‘Yes on 3’ campaign, which upheld Massachusetts’ law protecting transgender individuals from discrimination in public places—the first statewide vote on transgender rights in U.S. history. Prior to creating his consultancy, Matt served as chief of staff and communications director to the Massachusetts secretary of education in the administration of Governor Deval Patrick. Before state service, Matt served in the administration of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino as the chief spokesperson for the Boston Public Schools and as an advisor to Superintendent Carol Johnson. During the Superintendent’s tenure, Matt led the communications efforts of a proposal to dramatically improve the way students were assigned to the city’s public schools. In this role Matt also led the district’s public response to a wide variety of emergency and crisis situations. He also created and executed a strategy that strengthened the reputation of the district through proactive engagement with local and national media as well as through the use of rapidly emerging social media tools.

Prior to his public service, Matt was a television news producer at Boston’s ABC affiliate, WCVB-TV, Channel 5. Matt currently serves on the Board of Directors for World Ocean School. He is a graduate of Suffolk University in Boston.

Find GLAD Law’s full list of board members on our website.

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8 Ways to Support GLAD Law’s Work for LGBTQ+ Justice

In today’s political climate of increasing threats to our rights, many of us are asking the same question: What can I do to make a difference?

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) has fought and won against tough odds for nearly 50 years. And we aren’t backing down. 

Our commitment to ensuring LGBTQ+ people and our families are recognized, welcomed, and protected throughout our lives has never been stronger – and neither has our resolve to find new ways forward.  

But we can’t do it without you. 

Ready to make an impact? Here are eight meaningful ways you can join us in the fight for justice.

1. Make a gift

Every dollar makes a difference, and there are a lot of ways to give. Become a monthly donor to make the biggest impact and help GLAD Law meet the challenges ahead!

GLAD Law staff Qwin Mbabazi and Ivory King smiling behind a table of resources at a GLAD Law event

2. Organize a fundraiser

Help spread the word about GLAD Law’s work and encourage others to donate! Host a fundraising page for a birthday, anniversary, or just because. Start a friendly competition over who can raise the most for LGBTQ+ rights. Learn more.

3. Help host an event

Host a “friendraiser” event! You provide the event space and we’ll help with the logistics and planning. Or join the Host Committee of a GLAD Law event near you to help make it a success. Reach out for details to events@glad.org.

4. Get your workplace involved

Talk to your employer about sponsoring an event! Ask if your workplace has a matching gift program or start one to double your donation’s impact. Contact giving@glad.org to learn more.

5. Join the Lawyer Referral Service

Attorneys can sign up to help provide legal counsel on LGBTQ+ issues to the thousands in need who contact GLAD Law each year. Apply to join or share with a lawyer you know!

6. Volunteer

Donate your time! Sign up to volunteer at events or help staff GLAD Law Answers, our legal information hotline.

GLAD interns in black GLAD t-shirts outside at the 2023 Summer Party

7. Sign up for updates

Get the latest information about your rights, ways to take action, and updates on GLAD Law’s important work for equality. Sign up today, then share GLAD Law with five of your friends!

8. Follow, like, and share on social media

Follow @GLADLaw on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Threads. Engage with us on social media and help spread the word.

These are just a few of the many ways you can get involved and support GLAD Law’s work. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to justice for all.

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GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders now also known as GLAD Law!

Logo for GLAD Law, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders with the tagline, Justice with Pride

After nearly 50 years of winning precedent-setting legal victories for our community, we are excited to announce a new chapter: GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders will now also be known as GLAD Law, rather than simply GLAD.

We know that using our long-time acronym ‘GLAD’ has occasionally caused confusion with other organizations with similar names. We’re making the switch to GLAD Law not just to clear up any confusion, but to foreground our legacy of reshaping the legal landscape to advance equality for all. GLAD Law expresses our determination that LGBTQ+ people belong – in our laws, in our Constitution, and in public life.

Our mission isn’t changing. We are as committed as ever to our roots in New England and our national impact fighting discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or HIV status. 

And in today’s climate of increasing threats to civil liberties, legal advocacy, and education about decisions that impact the LGBTQ+ community are more needed than ever. No matter the challenge, GLAD Law will continue  to guard against growing extremism, and we will continue to fight for you.

Looking to the future, we’re eager to continue building on GLAD Law’s legacy by working in the courts, in state legislatures, and through public education to tackle emerging threats to LGBTQ+ rights and using our voice to support policies that advance and protect the rights of our community.

We’re so excited to kick off this new chapter at such a critical time. Thank you for your support and allyship as we move forward in this work – together.

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What’s at stake in U.S. v Skrmetti?

YouTube video

The Supreme Court will decide an important LGBTQ+ case this session. 

U.S. v Skrmetti is about whether state governments can tell families with transgender kids they can’t get their children health care that their doctors recommend, and that will allow them to be healthy, happy young people. 

That’s a pretty harmful thing for states to do. Federal courts all over the country have agreed, saying governments can’t make a rule that the same safe effective medical care that is regularly used to help all kinds of kids must be denied only to transgender kids. 

That’s discrimination. And what the Supreme Court is going to decide in this case is whether laws like these that deny something to people just because they are transgender go against an important principle in our constitution, that all people should have equal protection under the law. 

And in fact the Court has already said something on this question. Just 4 years ago in a 2020 case called Bostock, the Court said that discriminating against someone because they are transgender, or gay or lesbian or bisexual, is discrimination on the basis of sex. Laws that discriminate on the basis of sex are subject to extra scrutiny. That means governments must be able to show a really strong reason why such a law is necessary even though it discriminates against some people. If they can’t show that compelling reason, the law has to go.  

The fact is, states haven’t been able show any compelling reason why health care that has been safely used for decades should be denied just to transgender kids. Most federal courts have recognized that is not about health care, it’s about saying trans kids don’t deserve to get care they need like everyone else.  

But a handful of higher courts have decided to ignore that important constitutional principle that everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law and say it’s OK to discriminate against some people – in this case transgender people. 

So now the Supreme Court is going to weigh in. There’s no reason the Court should say anything different in this case than they said in Bostock in 2020. Making sure people aren’t treated unfairly just because of who they are is key part of what our constitution stands for.  

And that’s pretty important to all of us.  

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International Drag Day: Drag and the Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights

This International Drag Day, GLAD is celebrating the history of drag performers and their role in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

Drag, or the art of theatrical exaggeration of gender, has been happening since antiquity, but our modern understanding of drag began in earnest in the 19th century. William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved Black man, began hosting private balls in his home called “drags,” where he would perform in elegant feminine attire. These balls were mostly attended by fellow formerly enslaved people. Swann was arrested several times throughout his life for charges like female impersonation and “keeping a disorderly house,” which was a euphemism for running a brothel. After being charged with keeping a disorderly house in 1896 and being sentenced to ten months in jail, he asked for a presidential pardon from President Grover Cleveland. While the president denied Swann’s request, this was the first time on record of an American seeking legal or political action to defend the LGBTQ+ community, and the community formed within his balls is considered the first LGBTQ+ resistance group.

Drag performers from early 20th century

Balls like Swann’s persisted into the 20th century, especially in New York City. The Harlem Renaissance, a period of immense growth in Black artistry, hosted many queer Black artists who took part in and attended extravagant drag balls. Across the country and abroad, vaudeville acts included female impersonators at the beginning of the century. At that same time, people performing exaggerated masculinity started to push into the performance scene. These performers were the start of the modern drag king. Drag acts persisted, sometimes even in the mainstream, even while society was not kind to queer people. While many famous performances feature exaggerated forms of binary genders, drag includes and celebrates exploring expressions between or separated entirely from that binary.  

Drag balls were also a space for competition. Ball competitions and pageant circuits came into popularity in the 1960s. This surge in the presence of drag artists, mostly queens, was dampened both by police raids of venues hosting balls and racism within these competitions. In response to discrimination experienced within drag pageants and the larger drag scene, Crystal and Lottie LaBeija founded the House of LaBeija, the first major drag House, and began hosting balls to create a space for drag performers and queer people of color to thrive. The concept of the drag House grew from that point, becoming a feature of the scene, and often becoming real chosen family for young queer people. While Houses were not formalized aid organizations, queer youth who ended up on the street, rejected from their home because of their identity, were often taken in by heads of Houses, given a place to sleep, food to eat, and mentors to care for and help them.  

Stormé DeLarverie

Police frequently raided queer spaces through the mid-20th century, targeting drag queens, trans women, and people who defied gender norms with especially brutal treatment. Bars in New York and across the country were not allowed to serve “known homosexuals” and banned crossdressing, or wearing the clothes typically associated with the opposite sex. Despite these laws and the violent policing of gay bars, LGBTQ+ people continued to gather in these community spaces.

In June 1969, police famously raided the Stonewall Inn in the West Village, NY. This time, the patrons fought back. For days, members of New York’s LGBTQ+ community protested, refusing to be intimidated and attacked for living authentically. One of the leaders of the Stonewall Uprising was Stormé DeLarverie, a drag king and activist within the gay liberation movement.

These protests marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, which included the formation of several activist organizations by drag queens in New York, like the Queens Liberation Front (QLF) and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR). STAR was founded by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two drag queens and trans women at the forefront of the Stonewall Uprising. Johnson and Rivera built STAR based on how drag houses served the community, providing homes and aid for homeless queer youth and sex workers. STAR and the QLF were involved in protests, sit-ins, pushes for anti-discrimination laws, and pride demonstrations.

Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at GLAD's 2023 Summer Party
Boston Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence at GLAD’s 2023 Summer Party

Drag performers taking part in activism was never exclusive to New York. In San Francisco, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence dressed in nun-themed drag while working to provide AIDS and safe-sex education and protest for protections, along with raising money to serve local queer communities. In the 90s, Chicago-based drag queen Joan Jett Blakk ran for mayor and then for president on the Queer Nation Party ticket. The goal of their campaigns we not to win political office but rather to increase the visibility of queer issues, especially the ongoing AIDS crisis at the time, as Blakk was an advocate with the national organization Act Up.    

Since the turn of the 21st century, drag has made its way into the mainstream. Competition shows, especially RuPaul’s Drag Race, have thrust drag queens into the spotlight. Many have used this new platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. Bob the Drag Queen talked about his experience being arrested at a 2011 protest for marriage equality and getting thrown in jail while in full drag. Queens across the country use their voices to push for queer rights, whether that be through major mainstream spaces like Drag Race or within their own community.

Drag queen story hour. Photo credit: Jonathan Moore

In recent years, drag has been targeted by discriminatory laws in many states. In Tennessee, a law was proposed banning any performance involving “male or female impersonation” from public spaces or in front of children. Bills with similar goals have been proposed in several other states nationwide, and Montana and Tennesee did pass their bans in 2023. However, both of those are currently unenforceable due to legal action taken against them. All these bans target drag by sexualizing and stigmatizing it, as well as removing it from its activist and artistic context. Drag has been performed in all manner of settings, including sing-alongs, brunches, and storybook readings for years. But in states that have passed these bans, they would be considered adult content, and having all ages present in audiences would be punishable by law.  

For over a century, drag and those who perform it have been at the forefront of queer organizing and activism. Drag is an inherently transgressive act, defined by resistance to traditional ideas of gender. That visible resistance has made drag performers targets of political attacks and suppression but has also allowed drag performers to push for a better world for the LGBTQ+ community. GLAD will continue to defend the rights of all people to express themselves authentically and without discrimination.

Celebrate the legacy of drag at GLAD’s 43rd Annual Summer Party on July 27, 2024 in Provincetown, MA. This year’s honoree is drag icon and LGBTQ+ activist Varla Jean Merman.

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This Disability Pride Month, we’re highlighting incredible LGBTQ+ disability justice advocates and organizations fighting to affirm and protect the rights of people with disabilities.

Aubrey Smalls

Image Description: Aubrey Smalls, a Black person with dwarfism is looking into a vanity style mirror surrounded by lights. His back is in the foreground and his front is visible in the reflection of the mirror where he is looking at himself. He has dark, tightly curled, close cropped hair and is wearing a white tank top, dark pants, and a silver chain around his neck.

Aubrey Smalls (he/him) is a Black queer disability advocate and filmmaker with dwarfism. He uses his platform to advocate for the dwarfism community with a focus on education, including running an account dedicated to dwarfism history, spreading information about both historical oppression of and violence toward little people, and uplifting positive figures and moments for people with dwarfism. Smalls is also producing and directing a documentary comedy film about dwarfism, the effects of disability hate groups, and finding your freedom. Smalls has dedicated his creative work to uplifting the stories of people with dwarfism, both in the past and the present.

Jen Deerinwater

Jen Deerinwater (hir) is a bisexual, Two-Spirit, multiply disabled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma who is a prolific journalist and organizer. Hir studies center politics and government, which inform hir masses of writing on disability rights, along with reproductive rights and climate action. Hir indigenous identity has also influenced all Jen does. Jen founded the nonprofit Crushing Colonialism as a method to uplift indigenous voices, stories, and artists and is on the board Jen is also on the board for the Disabled Journalist Association and is a Senior Advisor for the Disability Culture Lab, along with serving on the Ending the HIV Epidemic among Urban Natives Community Advisory Board.

Image Description: Jen Deerinwater, a Cherokee individual, sits outside on a set of stone steps. Jen's eyes are closed peacefully and hir hands rest on her thighs, hir body is facing to the right. Jen has shoulder length brown hair, wears a short black dress, white high-top converse with the bisexual pride flag across the side, a pair of yellow earrings, a large yellow and white ring, a blue and yellow beaded bracelet, and a beaded necklace the falls at their center chest with a large round plate with text that cannot be made out. Jen has a tattoo of a pink flower with petals falling from it on hir calf. A cane sits to hir side. There are green trees in the background

Olu Niyi-Awosusi

Image Description: Olu Niyi-Awosusi, a Black person with long dark loc'd hair smiles at the camera. The photo shows them from the shoulders up. They are wearing a gingham patterned top with red, green, and yellow stripes and a pair of red wire-frame glasses. They also have two gold rings in their nose, two more on their ear, and a dangling earring with yellow and orange patterning. They are outside with trees behind them.

Olu Niyi-Awosusi (they/them) is a Black nonbinary disability activist who described themself as an ethical technologist. They advocate for and help work toward an online world that is useful and inclusive to people with disabilities and people with limited technological access. They work as a front-end web developer while writing and giving talks about how to create a more equitable and accessible “woke web.” They cite their time studying philosophy as what got them interested in tech ethics. In addition to tech focused work, they also founded a mutual aid group to help provide gender-affirming clothing to the LGBTQ+ community in the UK.

Karin Hitselberger

Karin Hitselberger (she/her) is a plus-sized asexual disability advocate, blogger, and consultant. She has a history of work with nonprofits with a specialty in crisis counseling and support for the needs of vulnerable populations. Hitselberger’s blog and other writing focus on disability and how it intersects with body image and pop culture. She believes that writing and voicing her experience as a disabled fat woman is important because it can remind us that we are never alone in our experiences to read about the lives of others.

Image Description: Karin Hitselberger, a white plus-sized woman, sits in a power wheelchair, looking at the camera in front of a body of water and a sunset. She has blonde hair that reaches her shoulders and is half tied up. She wears a blue sleeveless dress with white and darker blue curled stripes in a vertical pattern. She has a pair of tortoiseshell glasses, small silver stud earrings, a tan watch, and several other bracelets.

Syrus Marcus Ware

Image Description: Syrus Marcus Ware, a Black man with very long green and black locs, stands against a white paneled wall. He looks down toward the camera, which is pointed up at him from the ground. He wears a short sleeved dress that is bright red from the top to the waist, then has a large fluorescent green stripe, then is a darker green bellow the stripe. A metallic silver turtleneck top is layered over the dress. He wears glasses in the same fluorescent green as the stripe on his dress. A blue sky and white clouds are visible in the top right corner.

Syrus Marcus Ware (he/him) is a Black transgender disability and abolitionist artist, activist, and scholar. His artistic work includes painting, installations, performance art, and curatorial practice. Ware’s solo and collaborative works have explored social justice and Black activist culture since 2013. Ware is a core team member of Black Lives Matter and an assistant professor at McMaster University teaching classes on disability performance.

Drag Syndrome

Drag Syndrome is a drag collective including both drag kings and queens with Down Syndrome. Founded in 2019, Drag Syndrome provides a space and funds for artists with Down Syndrome to explore their craft and use drag to mold their own persona and performance art. Daniel Vais, the founder of Drag Syndrome, has discussed how the collective allows performers to be celebrated for their skill, craft, and creativity, he expressed that “[Drag Syndrome] allows them to show their talents. Yes, these are artists who have Down syndrome, but that’s not the main issue…the extra chromosome is only a bonus.”

Image Description: The words "Drag Syndrome" in appear on a white background in black. The font is handwritten and looks similar to chalk writing.

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Transgender, Reproductive, and Fertility Care: The Fight for Health Care Equality and Bodily Autonomy 

GLAD has been on the forefront of safeguarding bodily autonomy for decades – and that is critical in this legislative session for transgender people, people who can get pregnant, and LGBTQ+ people who need fertility care. Health care equity work also aims to address the barriers to safe, quality medical care disproportionately affects people of color and low-income individuals as well. These disparities underscore the urgent need to address systemic inequalities and ensure that everyone has equal access to essential health care services. 

In the face of escalating threats to transgender health care, GLAD remains vigilant in its defense of trans people’s rights to safe, essential care. Across legal battles in multiple states, GLAD is at the forefront, challenging discriminatory laws and advocating for the rights of transgender youth and adults alike. In Florida federal court, our attorney Jennifer Levi argued at a hearing in December to protect access to transgender people in Doe v. Ladapo, and in June the court ruled to permanently block that unconstitutional law. In Boe v. Marshall, GLAD is supporting transgender youth and their families in need of essential care after the court allowed a health care ban to take effect in January. And GLAD has also submitted opposition briefs against similar laws in Tennessee and Kentucky in L.W. v. Skrmetti and Doe v. Thornbury at the 6th Circuit Appellate Court (which will be heard at the Supreme Court later this year), and others in Oklahoma. Our opposition is committed, strategic, and well-funded, but we rely on our decades-long experience, which has won the day. 

In the legislative arena, we are advocating for shield bills designed to protect trans and other vital health care access amidst mounting attacks. We’ve advocated successfully for these crucial bills in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont in previous sessions, and most recently in Maine and Rhode Island. There are currently laws or executive orders protecting care providers in 14 states and Washington, DC. While these bills shield providers and the patients’ families against prosecution for care legal in these states, hostile outside forces like Libs of TikTok have been spreading misinformation and fear to slow the passage of these vital protections. 

Health care access struggles are interconnected. States had been chipping away at abortion access years before the Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, but after the ruling, access fell precipitously. And this crucial care is still being brought in front of our higher courts – the Supreme Court Justices heard oral arguments in March, when a team of anti-abortion medical providers called into question the FDA-approved medication mifepristone, which is used to administer abortions for over 60 percent of US patients. In June, the Justices threw out the lawsuit without ruling on the merits of the case, ensuring continued access to the drug. 

And earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court delivered a shocking ruling that declared embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered children. Alabama fertility clinics shut down IVF services for weeks, and sowed concern for people across the country who want to build their family with this treatment. The need to protect access and providers is starkly clear. 

Access to safe, patient-centered care is a fundamental right that we must fight for every day. By advocating for the autonomy of patients and care providers in medical decision-making, GLAD is dedicated to ensuring people can access the care they need. Whether it’s affirming gender identity, seeking abortion care, or pursuing assisted reproduction, GLAD stands as a steadfast ally in the fight for health care access and bodily autonomy. 

Dedicated commitment to health care equity and patient rights is more than just about a single appointment or procedure – it’s about safeguarding the well-being and dignity of all. As threats to health care access persist, we are resolute in advocating for comprehensive protections that uphold the principle of bodily autonomy for everyone. 


A version of this story was originally published in the Summer 2024 GLAD Briefs newsletter. Read more.

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