OPEN LETTER SUPPORTING TRANS WOMEN & GIRLS
In observance of Women’s History Month and Transgender Day of Visibility, we write this letter as feminist leaders in advocacy, business, entertainment, media, politics, and social justice who stand as, with, and for transgender and nonbinary people. Trans women and girls have been an integral part of the fight for gender liberation. We uphold that truth and denounce the ongoing anti-transgender rhetoric and efforts we witness in various industries.
We acknowledge with clarity and strength that transgender women are women and that transgender girls are girls. And we believe that honoring the diversity of women’s experiences is a strength, not a detriment to the feminist cause. All of us deserve the same access, freedoms, and opportunities. We deserve equal access to education, employment, healthcare, housing, recreation, and public accommodations. And we must respect each person’s right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.
It is time for the long history of assaults (legislative, physical, social, and verbal) against trans women and girls to end. For far too long, lawmakers have worked to strip trans women of their civil liberties—in 2021, once again, we’ve seen a wave of bigoted governmental policies and legislation. Many of these laws target the rights of girls to play school sports or criminalize doctors for treating trans youth and their families. The women’s movement has seen doctors targeted before for providing us with necessary medical care and services, and we refuse to let youth endure that now. Plus, we know that anti-trans sports bans are as unnecessary as they are harmful—and that women athletes at both the professional and college levels support inclusion.
These bigoted efforts are also aided by a contingent of self-identified feminists, who have been promoting damaging and violent ideas about trans people for years in the United States and internationally. Their vitriol is, in fact, not feminist at all. True feminists do not wish to limit any woman’s identity or freedom to fully be herself. Allowing transphobic rhetoric to go unchecked also strengthens the legislative efforts of anti-trans politicians—who now cloak their bigotry in language about protecting or supporting women.
Further, all verbal attacks support the ongoing epidemic of murder and violence plaguing Black and Latinx trans women. 2020 was the deadliest year on record for the transgender community, seeing more than 44 killings, and, so far, there have been at least nine deaths reported this year.
It was Audre Lorde who said, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” Since the dawn of feminism, our movements have experienced our fair share of inflection points. We continue to reckon with a history that has often excluded women of color, of different sexual orientations, socioeconomic statuses, ages, body types, religions and regions, and who are disabled. However, the feminist movement has largely expanded in beautiful and powerful ways. We have more language and understanding than ever before to describe how our unique experiences are threaded in the larger tapestry of womanhood.
We all must fight against the unnecessary and unethical barriers placed on trans women and girls by lawmakers and those who co-opt the feminist label in the name of division and hatred. Our feminism must be unapologetically expansive so that we can leave the door open for future generations.
In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility and Women’s History Month, we welcome all women and non-binary people to co-sign our open letter. Click here to do that. If you’d like to be added to the public list of notable people and organizations below, email press@glaad.org.
The 3% Movement
500 Women Scientists
Abortion Access Front
AC Dumlao
Adiel Suarez-Murias
Adrienne Hayes
Aesha Rasheed
Afua Addo
Ai-jen Poo
Aisha C. Mills
Akilah Hughes
Alana Mayo
Alexandra Cotutiu
Alex Johnson
Alexis Flanagan
Alexis McGill-Johnson
Aleyamma Mathew
Ali Krieger
Alicia Garza
Alice Wong
Alison Brie
Alison Mariella Désir
Alison Turkos
Allana Giesbrecht
The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina
Allied Media Projects
Allie X
All Girls Considered
Alma Har’el
Alyson Stoner
Alyssa Milano
Amanda Lindell
Amber Tamblyn
Amelie Zilber
America Ferrera
American Association of University Women
Aminatou Sow
Amiyah Scott
Amoretta Morris
Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls
Amy Schumer
Ana Orozco
Ana Romero
Anandrea Molina
Andrea Jenkins
Andy Marra
Angela Kayleigh
Angela Pennyfeather
Angela Yannelli
Angelica Ross
Anna Hullum
Anna Julia Cooper Center
Anna Maiche
Anna Wintour
Annika Gifford
Annise Parker
API Chaya
Dr. Aria deSatanas
Ariadne Getty
Aria Sa’id
Ariel Jacobson
Ariel Wengroff
Asanni Armon
Ashlee Marie Preston
Ashley Belanger
Ashley Brundage
Ashley Holland
Ashley Judd
Ashley Louise
Ashley Romans
Ashlyn Harris
Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Athlete Ally
Auburn Seminary
Barbara MacLeod
Barbara Simon
Barbara Smith
Beanie Feldstein
Beautiful Ventures
Becca McCharen-Tran
Beckie Masaki
Bella Hadid
Beloved Community
Bevy Ross
Biomimicry for Social Innovation
Black and Pink, Inc.
Black AIDS Institute
Black and Brown Womyn Power Coalition, Inc.
Black Feminist Future
Black Futures Lab
Black LGBTQ+ Migrant Project (BLMP)
Black Trans Femmes in the Arts
Black Trans Woman, Inc.
Black Visions Collective
Black Women’s Blueprint
Black Women Radicals
Blair Imani
Blu Lewis
Bonnie Thurston
Borealis Philanthropy
Bozoma Saint John
Brave Space Alliance
BreakOUT!
Brianna Klatt
Brianna Turner
Brie Larson
Bridget de Gersigny
Brittany Packnett Cunningham
Broden Giambrone
Brown Boi Project
Bumble
Burn It All Down
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
A Call to Men
Camara Chea
Cara Delevingne
Carlie Hanson
Carol Hay
Casa de Esperanza
Catherine Beane
Catherine Lutes
Catharine MacKinnon
Cathy Renna
Cecile Richards
Celinda Lake
Center for Advancing Innovative Policy
The Center for Hope and Healing, Inc
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Survivor Agency and Justice
Ceyenne Doroshow
CHANGE (Center for Health and Gender Equity)
Change Elemental
Chani Nicolas
Charlotte Clymer
Charlene Carruthers
Charlie Jane Anders
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Simms
Cheryl Dunye
Christel Miller
Christian Nunes
Christina Hendricks
Christina Ricci
The Honorable Christy Clark
CHROMAT
Ciara Bravo
Cindi Leive
Cinthya Carmona
Claire Wasserman
Claudia Lopez
Cleo Wade
Cobie Smulders
COLAGE
COLLECTIVE FUTURE FUND
Colleen Psomas
Collette Carter
Community EsTr(El-La)
CONNECT, Inc.
Constance Wu
CONVERSATE Collective
Corinna Lathan
Corryn Sullivan
Cricket Stevens Gage
Cristin Milioti
CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Curtis Stauffer
Curve Magazine
Cynthia Erivo
Daisy von Scherler Mayer
Daniella Carter
Daniella’s GuestBook
Danielle Campoamor
Danielle Moodie
Darlene Nipper
Daroneisha Duncan-Boyd
Darra Gordon
Dawn Dalton
Dawn Ennis
Dawn Prestwich
Day One
Deborah Edel
Defend Yourself
Denise Beek
Destiny Ekaragha
Diamond Stylz
Diana Bang
Diana Rodriguez
Diane Anderson-Minshall
DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Dominique Morgan
Donnetta Lavinia Grays
Doorways (Arlington, VA)
Dorcas Adedoja
DOVE (Domestic Violence Ended), Inc.
Eileen Cadena
El/La Para TransLatinas
Elena Vera
Elissa Sloan Perry
Eliza Clark
Ella Hunt
Elliot Fletcher
Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute
Emilia Clarke
Emilie Wapnick
Emily Fuller
Emily Tisch Sussman
endoQueer
Erin Hershey
Erin Jontow
Erin Wruk
Eva Longoria
Evonne Kaho
Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement
Felicia Davis
Felicia Day
FEMINIST GIANT
Film Fatales
For The Gworls
Fortaleza Familiar
Forward Together
Francine Stark
Free The Work
Freedom Inc.
Futures Without Violence
Gabrielle Union
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics
Gathering Strength Collective
Geena Rocero
Gender Benders
Gender Justice Fund
Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Gianna Porcaro
Gillian Branstetter
Girls for Gender Equity
Girls’ Night In
Girl Ultra
Girl Up
Giselle Byrd
GLAAD
GLITS, Inc.
GLSEN
Gloria Steinem
GMHC
GO Magazine!
Grace Bonney
Grace Shockman
Gwendolyn Pointer
Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees
Halle Berry
Haley Videckis
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Hani Ali
Hannah Gadsby
HEART Women & Girls
Helen Kim
Hello Sunshine
Hey, King!
House of GG
HOUSE OF PRIDE
House of Tulip
Ianne Fields Stewart
Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence
ID PR
Ilana Glazer
Imani Rupert-Gordon
Imara Jones
Independent Public Relations
Indigenous Idaho Alliance
International Trans Fund (ITF)
inTRANSitive
Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Isa Noyola
Ivana Massetti
Ivy Hill
Jack Strategy
Jaimee Swift
Jameela Jamil
Jamilah Lemieux
Jan Christiansen
Jane Doe Inc.
Janelle Monáe
Janvi Jhaveri
Jasmine Burnett
Javiera Mena
Jazmine Walker
Jeannette Pai-Espinoza
JEB (Joan E. Biren)
Jenna Wortham
Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga
Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Finney Boylan
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Jennifer Morris
Jennifer Schuur
Jenny Slate
Jessalyn Gilsig
Jessamyn Stanley
Jessica Hartley
Jessica Tillyer
JingleTown Films, Inc.
JJ Mejasic
Joan Nestle
Joanna Hoffman
Joanne N. Smith
Joey Soloway
John Poore
John Wells Productions
Jonathan Jayes-Green
Jordyn Jay
Journey Center for Safety and Healing
Josh Irving Gershick
Judith Light
Julianne Moore
Julie Keiffer-Lewis
Justin Tranter
Kabzuag Vaj
Kalayo Pestano
Karen Tronsgard-Scott
Karimah Dillard-Mickey
Kat Cunning
Kat Gordon
Kat Graham
Kate Kelly
Katie Edgerton
Katie French
Kathryn Hahn
Kathy Godwin
NY Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul
The Katz Company
Kayla Gore
Kayli Carter
Kelly Bush Novak
Kelly Miller
Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Kiersten Stewart
Kifu Faruq
Kimberlé Crenshaw
Kimberly Drew
Kimberly Reed
Kira Kelly
Klarissa Oh
Koa Beck
Ladies Get Paid
Lake Research Partners
Lane Joslin
Laraine Newman
Rev. Latishia James-Portis
Lauren Conk
Lauren Groff
Lauren Hamilton
Lauren Wolkstein
Laverne Cox
Layshia Clarendon
Leanne Pittsford
Legal Momentum, the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
Lea DeLaria
Lena Dunham
Lena Waithe
Lesbian Herstory Archives
Lesbians Who Tech and Allies
Leslie Cohen
Leslie Mac
NY Attorney General Letitia James
Lexi Adsit
Lexi Underwood
Lisa Anderson
The LGBT Center of Greater Reading
LGBTQ Victory Fund
LGBTQ Victory Institute
Li Ann (EStrella) Sanchez
Liat Olenick
Liliahn Majeed
Lilly Singh
Lindsay Peoples Wagner
Lisa Anderson
Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Silverberg
Lisa Turner
Liz Jenkins
The Long Island Social Justice Action Network
A Long Walk Home
Lori Lindsey
Love Me Unlimited4life
Lovelace Consulting Services, Inc.
The Loveland Foundation
LPAC
Lucy Alibar
M Adams
Madison Bailey
Madison Hinton
Madison Werner
Madtown Mommas & Disability Advocates
Maggie Chieffo
Maggie Kiley
Maggie Lindemann
Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence
Masada Jones
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
ManForward
March On
Marcie Bianco
Margaret Cho
Mari Jo Winkler
Mariah Moore
Marilyn Willis
marin ireland
Marsha’s Plate Podcast
Mary Filar
Mary Emily O’Hara
Mary Hollis Inboden
Matahari Women Workers’ Center
Maura Bairley
Maurissa Tancharoen
Maxine Wolfe
Maya Wiley
Mayim Bialik
Medicine Bowl
Meena Harris
Megan Rapinoe
Mekong NYC
Melanie Willngham-Jaggers
Melinda Weekes-Laidlow
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Haithcox-Dennis
Melissa Harris-Perry
Melissa Silverstein
Men As Peacemakers
Meredith Walker
The Meteor
me too movement
Michele Wells
Michelle Gislason
Michelle Nuñez
Mijente
Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition
Miriam Shor
Mj Rodriguez
Molly Bernard
Mona Eltahawy
Monica Dennis
Monica Simpson
Morgan Gwenwald
Morgana Kelly
Movement 4 Black Lives
Munroe Bergdorf
MS Black Women’s Roundtable
Ms. Magazine
Ms. Foundation
Mwende Katwiwa
My Sistah’s House
Nadiah Mohajir
Nagma Shrestha
Nancy Northup
Nancy Sigafoos, M.A., R.P.
Natalie Gold
Natalie London
Natalie Pratt
Natasha Cloud
Natasha Lyonne
The National Alliance for Safe Housing
National Center for Lesbian Rights
The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health
National Council of Jewish Women
National Crittenton
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National LGBTQ Task Force
The National Network of Abortion Funds
National Network to End Domestic Violence
National Organization for Women (NOW)
The National Partnership for Women & Families
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
National Women’s History Museum
National Women’s Law Center
NC BLOC
Nervous Circus
New & Improved
New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence
New York City Anti-Violence Project
New York City Lawyers’ Committee Against Domestic Violence
New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Nicole Eisenberg
Nicole Matthews
Nicole Valentine
Nicole Morella
Nicole Santamaria
Noor Tagouri
Oaasis
Oasis Legal Services
Ohio Domestic Violence Network
The Okra Project
Olga Trujillo
Olivia Spradlin
Oluchi Omeoga
Organizacion Latina Trans In Texas
Outsports
Pa Thao
Pamela Jacobs
Pamela Shifman
Pamela Stewart
Paola Mendoza
Parenting for Liberation
Paris Hatcher
Paris Hilton
Rep. Park Cannon
Patrisse Cullors
Miss Peppermint
The Perception Institute
PFLAG National
Phenomenal
Phoebe Robinson
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Pride In Running
Pride Media
Pride Live
ProcessMatters, LLC
PROSTASIA FOUNDATION
Queer Crescent
RALIANCE
Ramp Your Voice!
Range Media Partners
Raniyah Copeland
Rachael Dubinsky
Rachael Ibrahim
Rachel Cargle
Rachel Carmona
Rachel Simon
Ramonda Young
Raquel Willis
Rebecca Bass
Rebecca Black
Rebecca Cokley
Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Livengood
Rebecca Macias
Reclaim Pride Coalition
Red Canary Song
Reductress
Reese Witherspoon
Regina King
Re-inc
Renee Bracey Sherman
The Representation Project
Resonance Network
Return On Inclusion™
Rinku Sen
Rockwood Leadership Institute
Roman King
Root. Rise. Pollinate!
Rosie Abriam
Rosie Perez
Roula AbiSamra
Rumba Yambú
Ruth Negga
S.O.U.L. Sisters Leadership Collective
Safe Bars
Safe Harbor of NE KY
Sage Dolan-Sandrino
Sakhi for South Asian Women
Saleka
Sam Srinivasan
Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Fluke
Santa Clara Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale
Sarah Kate Ellis
Sarah Jones
Sarah McBride
Sarah Pappalardo
Sarah Paulson
Sarah Sophie Flicker
Sav Rodgers
SAVE
Scheherazade Tillet
Seattle 500 Women Scientists
Sechel PR
Selena Gomez
Selenis Levya
Sera Fernando
Serena Sonoma
Sesali Bowen
The Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center
Shar Jossell
She Votes Illinois
Shift Human Performance
Shonda Rhimes
Silicon Valley Pride
Sohla El-Waylly
Soko
Solutions NOT Punishment Collaborative
Sonya Taylor
South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Southern Fried Queer Pride
Southerners On New Ground (S.O.N.G.)
SpecialGuest Co.
Representative Stephanie Byers
Sue Chandler
Suffolk County Progressives
Suma Mathai
Supermajority Education Fund
Suzy Nakamura
Sylvia Obell
Tagg Magazine
Tahirih Justice Center
TAKE Resource Center
Tanya Taylor
TAYLOR ALXNDR
Taylor Plecity
Tatiana Maslany
TEAM Mag
Techtonica.org
Tegan and Sara
Teresa C. Younger
Tess Holliday
Tewa Women United
TGIJP
Theresa McClellan
Three Point Strategies
Tiffany Boone
Tiffany R. Warren
TIME’S UP Foundation
Toby Herzlich
Toni-Michelle Williams
Tony Richard
Topple
Towleroad
TRANScending Barriers Atlanta
Trace Lysette
Tracy Gilchrist
Tracy Weitz
The Transgender District
The Transgender Equality Network of Ireland
Transgender Film Center
Transgender Law Center
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Trans Justice Funding Project
Trans Lifeline
TransTech Social Enterprises
The Trevor Project
Trina Brown
Trish Bendix
Universal Music Group
Uzo Aduba
ValorUS
Vanessa Baden Kelly
Vanessa Tate Finney
Veena Sud
Vera House
Verillas
Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
Verna Myers
Veronica Alvarez Ferreira
VietLead
Viveka Chen
Wanda Sykes
Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
The Well Project
West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence
We Testify
Whembley Sewell
The Women & Justice Project
Women for Economic Justice
WIF (Women In Film, Los Angeles)
Women in Research
Women’s March
Women’s March MN
Women Occupy Hollywood
The Women Worldwide Initiative, Inc
yeshi neumann
YWCA USA
Zaria
Zaria Simone
Zioness
Zoe Kazan
Zoe Lister-Jones
Zon Moua