During the assimilationist pushes of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, mainstream gay rights organizations occasionally sidelined or explicitly excluded transgender individuals. The goal was often to appear more palatable to conservative lawmakers, a strategy that left trans people vulnerable and erased their contributions to the movement.
For decades, transgender activists, artists, and everyday heroes have not just been part of the LGBTQ movement; they have often been its vanguard. It was trans women of color—Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera—who stood at the brick wall of the Stonewall Inn, refusing to bow to police brutality. When the riots ignited the modern fight for liberation, it was trans voices that sang the first chorus. Yet, for too long, mainstream gay and lesbian rights movements sidelined these same voices, asking trans people to wait their turn while marriage equality took center stage. tranny shemale tube 2021