Hi John,

This Trans Awareness Week, there is real hope on the horizon for Congress to pass The Equality Act - a new piece of civil rights legislation that explicitly protects the LGBTQ community from discrimination, including transgender young people. President-Elect Biden has pushed to pass the Equality Act in his first 100 days, and has called for the legislation to be fully trans-inclusive. But Congress needs to hear that the people support this - they need to hear from you!

Fill out this form and we'll automatically generate a letter for you to send to your members of Congress! Feel free to edit it and add your own thoughts.

The Equality Act would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in employment, housing, schools, restaurants, shelters and other public accommodations. (This kind of discrimination is completely legal in more than 30 states right now). And while President-Elect Biden has said the legislation should be trans-inclusive, in 2007 when trying to pass a similar bill, Congress briefly removed protections for transgender people in order to win over some conservatives who were hesitating. If they do that again, that is a red line for us. A version of The Equality Act that only protects folks based on sexual orientation, but not gender identity, is NOT an Equality Act at all. Congress needs to hear that young people around the country would strongly oppose that version of the bill.

That's why we need you to go here and ask your representatives to cosponsor the Equality Act in its current form, with all the protections necessary for transgender folks included.

Here's What Else You Can Do for Trans Awareness Week

On Instagram, tap the paper airplane to share this audiogram from one of our youth activists, Maxine, where she explains when she realized she's trans.
You can also read and share Maxine's op-ed about what the cisgender community can do for trans folks here.
If Twitter is your preferred medium, then retweet our thread on her op-ed here.
Finally, if Facebook is where most of your friends and family are, share our "My Friend is Transgender" video here.

Create Safer Spaces for LGBTQ Youth

Download the new Safer Spaces Toolkit for folks working in education, healthcare, and community-based organizations on how to ensure LGBTQ youth are protected and feel accepted and secure in your space. Then send that link to any friends who work with young people.

Instagram Live this Friday

Finally, we’ll be hosting an Instagram live featuring Nashville-based YouthResource activist Maxine Spencer (she/her) and Dominique Morgan (she/her), a Black trans woman, community activist, educator, organizer, musician, and the Executive Director of Black and Pink. Black and Pink is a United States prison abolitionist organization supporting LGBTQ prisoners and those living with HIV.

In solidarity,

Armonté Butler (he/him)
Senior Program Manager, LGBTQ Health and Rights
Advocates for Youth

Advocates for Youth is a national nonprofit working to protect
young people’s sexual reproductive health and ensure their rights.
Visit www.advocatesforyouth.org to learn more.

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