Within LGBTQ culture, solidarity must be active, not symbolic. For cisgender gay, lesbian, and bisexual people looking to honor their shared heritage with the trans community, specific actions are required:

A cultural tension remains. As cisgender gay people achieve marriage equality and military service, some seek assimilation into mainstream society. The transgender community, particularly non-binary and gender-nonconforming people, often resists this assimilation.

This linguistic shift has changed the texture of LGBTQ culture entirely. Where once the culture revolved strictly around sexual orientation (who you go to bed with ), the trans community has centered the conversation on gender identity (who you go to bed as ). This has led to more nuanced spaces, including the rise of "queer" as an umbrella term that resists rigid categorization.

LGBTQ culture without trans people would be quieter, safer, and utterly inauthentic. It would lack the fierce joy of a trans woman walking down the street in full authenticity. It would lack the revolutionary spirit of a non-binary teen demanding "them" as a pronoun. And it would certainly lack the moral clarity that, in 2024, reminds the world that the fight for queer rights is, was, and always will be, a fight for the right to be yourself —whatever that looks like.