To understand LGBTQ+ history is to understand trans history. Yet, the relationship between the trans community and the broader queer culture is complex: one of deep solidarity, shared struggle, and at times, necessary reckoning.

This Pride month (and every month), stand with the T. Show up for trans rights. Listen to trans voices. And remember: we rise together, or we don’t rise at all. Check out the documentary Disclosure (on Netflix) for trans representation in film, or read Redefining Realness by Janet Mock.

In the 1970s and 90s, some lesbian feminist groups excluded trans women, arguing they were “men infiltrating women’s spaces.” Similarly, some gay men’s groups have historically sidelined trans men or treated non-binary identities as a fad. This led to the "LGB without the T" movement—a small but loud faction that tries to sever the alliance.

Let’s break down that connection. We cannot tell the story of Stonewall (the 1969 uprising that sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement) without naming the trans women of color who led the charge. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera—both self-identified trans women and drag queens—were on the front lines. They fought for everyone : the gay men, the lesbians, the homeless youth, and the gender non-conforming outcasts that mainstream society wanted to forget.

When many people see the acronym LGBTQ+, they often mentally stop at the “L,” the “G,” or the “B.” But the “T”—for transgender, transsexual, and two-spirit people—is not just a supporting character in this story. The trans community is, and has always been, a pillar of queer culture.