In response, the broader LGBTQ culture is facing a choice: assimilate into a binary system by sacrificing the "T," or stand in solidarity. The overwhelming majority of LGBTQ organizations (GLAAD, HRC, The Trevor Project) have doubled down on pro-trans advocacy. The rainbow flag now frequently incorporates the trans chevron (the triangle with the baby blue, pink, and white stripes) to symbolize that the fight is one and the same.
Johnson, a self-identified drag queen and trans activist, and Rivera, a Latina trans woman, threw the "shot glass heard round the world." They fought not just for the right to love the same gender, but for the right to exist in public space without being arrested for wearing clothing that didn’t match a police officer’s expectation.
The history of gender-diverse people spans centuries and cultures, from the hijra of South Asia to the nádleehi of the Navajo people. In the United States, pivotal moments of resistance were often led by transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. Christine Jorgensen
Some lesbian feminists argue that male-bodied trans women threaten female-only safe spaces. Conversely, the majority of mainstream LGBTQ organizations argue that excluding trans women replicates the same patriarchal violence that birthed the gay liberation movement. This tension forces to constantly ask: Is this movement about assimilation into a gender-binary world, or about demolishing that binary entirely?