Democrats won big. Now trans Americans are demanding more than promises​

Tuesday was the people’s victory. It was a victory for communities of color across the South and Midwest who have been organizing with their neighbors for decades. This election offers a clear roadmap for how we build lasting, multiracial, working-class power. I know right now there is an expectant energy of turning political tides. But what I’m sitting with, alongside many others in the trans community, is what comes next.

Many trans people feel like we’ve been left on the sidelines this election. Several candidates who won on Tuesday backtracked on their support for trans people. First, let me be clear. Trans people are not pieces in a game to be picked up or thrown aside when it’s politically convenient. And we saw candidates win who stood true to their values — who never backtracked on their support for trans people being able to live as our full, authentic selves.

What comes next is holding our elected officials to account. It’s not enough for our representatives to simply affirm the dignity and worth of trans people. We demand more than the floor. We demand that our electeds, the people who we have put into positions of governing power, advance a pro-Black, pro-trans, pro-immigrant agenda.

That means focusing on affordability so that one job is enough to stay above water and no one has to choose between health care and food on the table. We have to push our officials on proactive policies that will keep our neighbors safe from ICE and reject the constant and intrusive surveillance of our communities. And of course, we have to hold our representatives accountable to our trans siblings, so that every trans kid can play sports they love, access the care we need, and find safety and belonging wherever we call home.

I also know that candidate races are only part of the story. Five states this election put forward efforts to ban trans youth in sports and interrupt or outlaw our health care. I’m celebrating the win in Missouri, where, in a resounding victory, voters affirmed that every person deserves autonomy over our bodies and our health care. Missourians didn’t fall for the billionaires who tried to divide, control, and confuse voters. Their win is the result of trans organizers and committed allies who jumped in early to talk to their neighbors, knock on doors, and push for making Missouri a place where every person can belong.

At the same time, I am sitting with the ballot measure losses that will ban trans youth from playing the sports they love with their peers. In several states, these losses were close. And what gives me hope is that the communities I come from, including the Assiniboine Fort Peck Nation and the trans community, have practiced mutual aid, resistance, and collective building for millennia. We know how to build power through organizing and strengthening diverse coalitions that will mobilize people for the long haul.

At Transgender Law Center, we are already looking far beyond these election results. We know that elections are just one point in time to push for the future we deserve. Real, transformational change happens when we sustain and build upon the networks we already have to keep cultivating our power and create a world where every person has what we need to thrive. The midterms are a moment in time that reflects how we are responding to rising authoritarianism. We know that the attempts at power, control, and surveillance won’t stop. But neither will we.

Shelby Chestnut (Assiniboine Fort Peck Tribe) is the executive director of Transgender Law Center. They are a movement leader with more than two decades of experience in community organizing and policy advocacy for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.

Shelby Chestnut, executive director of Transgender Law Center

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