Introduction

As of the publishing of this article, 430 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed in the United States in just 2023. In graduate school, most of us are insulated from political policies; however, when these policies affect our civil liberties and rights, how should therapists approach them? Should we ignore sharing our beliefs about these detrimental acts that directly impact our clients or limit our right to provide services?

7 Solutions for Protecting LGBTQ Rights

The following are all suggestions. You need to honor your capacity, so you can pick and choose what aligns best for you. (I still highly encourage voting to be one of your choices!)

Vote!

Please, for the love of all that is holy, whatever god(s) or higher power you pray to – VOTE! Vote for politicians who have pledged to protect our rights. Campaign against those who have pledged further harm. Vote out politicians who have proposed these political acts of discrimination. If you haven’t registered to vote, click here.

Contact your representatives

Local politics are more powerful than you may think. If you don’t know where to start and want to know who your representatives are and what bills are being proposed, click here. Write emails to them, call them, go to their offices, and talk to them; tell them your personal story, my story, and the stories of others you know and love, and explain why passing these laws would cause harm.

Allies, step up!

We need you now more than ever to stand and fight with us and for us. We need you to use your social and political capital to make other cisgender, heterosexual people witness our suffering and our humanity. Check-in with your queer and transgender siblings and give them a little extra love and support right now.

Donate

locally, especially (shout out to OutFront MN and Gender Justice!), but also nationally, to places like the ACLU. Google your local LGBTQ rights organizations—just copy and paste “LGBTQ rights organizations near me”!

Protest

Be mindful of safety and protect yourself; however, if this is something you are passionate about and are able and willing to do, go for it!

Educate

Share this article, and share other articles. Most importantly, have conversations with those you know who are either on the fence or perhaps ambivalent about these issues. Don’t waste your time on people who are not willing to engage in dialogue. But if there are people you know who might be willing, and we can help sway an open mind, this will have an incredibly strong impact on everyone. Protecting trans rights is protecting human rights; ultimately protecting autonomy for all is in everyone’s best interest.

Find your balance

A time for work and a time for rest. This is the pot calling the kettle black, but those of us who are investing a lot of our time and energy fighting also need to be mindful of our limits, and creating space for rest is not a luxury, but crucial. As many wise people have said to me, which I will share with you: Rest is radical. Joy is resistance. Being queer is an act of resistance in and of itself.

Conclusion

With that, I end this to restore and rejuvenate myself; to charge up, get up again, and keep going–for, in the end, that is all that is within my control and power to do. Everything else I will continue to practice radically accepting what is not, and let it go.