From the Desk of the OC Pride Executive Director: There Is No LGB Without the T

Every few years, a familiar and deeply frustrating idea resurfaces. It usually starts quietly. A social media post. A comment thread. A group claiming they are “just asking questions.” And then suddenly it’s louder, sharper, and more organized.

The idea is this: that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people should somehow separate ourselves from transgender people. That our struggles are different enough. That our liberation can be achieved without them. That the “T” is optional.

Let me be very clear. There is no LGB without the T. Not historically. Not politically. Not morally. And not now.

What we are seeing today is not a grassroots awakening or a reasonable debate. It is a coordinated attempt to fracture our community at a time when unity is not just important, but necessary for survival.

If you are gay, lesbian, or bi and living openly today, your life is shaped by trans people whether you realize it or not.

Trans women were at the Stonewall Inn. Trans people were organizing before there were pride parades. Trans activists were fighting police brutality, employment discrimination, housing insecurity, and medical neglect while much of mainstream society, and even parts of the gay community, wanted nothing to do with them.

And when the AIDS crisis tore through our community, trans people were there too.

In the early days of HIV and at the height of the pandemic, when fear outweighed compassion and hospitals turned people away, trans women and gender non-binary people stepped in. They cared for gay men who had been abandoned by families, churches, and institutions. They cooked meals. They cleaned wounds. They sat at bedsides. They held hands when no one else would. They showed up when showing up was dangerous, exhausting, and thankless.

That part of our history rarely gets told. But it should.

Because the truth is this. When society decided gay men were disposable, trans people did not agree.

Marsha P. Johnson did not ask who was respectable enough to defend. Sylvia Rivera did not stop to check who fit neatly into a label. They fought because oppression doesn’t politely divide itself into categories.

The push to remove the T from LGBTQ+ spaces ignores this history on purpose.

And that should tell you everything you need to know.

The modern “LGB without the T” movement is not about protecting gay rights. It is about using a small subset of our community as a wedge. Anti-trans rhetoric is currently the most politically useful tool for groups that oppose bodily autonomy, gender freedom, and queer existence altogether. When they can’t roll back same-sex marriage directly, they start by isolating trans people. When that works, they keep going.

We have already seen this playbook in action.

Legislation that targets trans people rarely stops there. Bathroom bans turn into restrictions on drag. Attacks on gender-affirming care become broader assaults on sexual health access. Book bans that start with trans stories quickly expand to any queer story at all. The idea that gay and bi people will somehow be spared if we stay quiet is not just wrong, it is dangerously naive.

Oppression does not reward compliance.

What makes this moment especially painful is that some of this rhetoric is coming from within our own community. People who benefited from queer liberation now turning around and pulling the ladder up behind them. People who forget, or choose to forget, that respectability has never saved us.

There is also a certain irony in how loudly some people invoke “community” only when it is being used as a tool for exclusion. These are often the same voices who are absent when real work is needed. They are not showing up to volunteer at the Pride Festival or Parade. They are not helping raise funds for queer services. They are not present at food drives, family events, or the many free programs that exist precisely to support our most vulnerable neighbors. Community, in practice, requires effort, care, and accountability. When it is reduced to a talking point used to justify pushing trans and non-binary people out, it stops being about collective well-being and becomes something else entirely. Wrapping exclusion in the language of protection or shared values does not make it principled. It makes it disingenuous.

And this isn’t just happening in headlines or far away states. We see it here at home.

At OC Pride, we have seen a noticeable uptick in pushback whenever we uplift trans voices or take a clear stance on trans inclusion. Trans-centered posts draw more hostile comments. Statements that affirm trans lives prompt nasty DMs. Even the slightest act of trans advocacy is met with criticism from people who insist we are “going too far” or “being political.”

Let’s be honest about what that really means.

It means there are people who are comfortable with Pride only when it doesn’t challenge them. Only when it stays quiet. Only when it doesn’t include everyone.

We work with community partners every day who are on the ground doing the hard work. We see how these narratives land in real life. We see the fear it creates. We see families confused and hurt. We see young people questioning whether they belong in spaces that once promised safety.

This is not theoretical. This is not abstract. These conversations shape policy, funding, school environments, healthcare access, and whether someone feels safe walking down the street.

That is why silence is not neutral.

If you hear “LGB without the T” and think it doesn’t affect you, it already has. Because once the idea that some queer people are expendable takes hold, none of us are safe from being next.

Being part of the LGBTQ+ community has never been about sameness. We are different. Our experiences differ. Our identities are complex. That diversity is not a weakness. It is the point. Solidarity does not require identical lives. It requires shared commitment.

Trans people are not a distraction from queer liberation. They are central to it.

So when OC Pride says we stand with the full LGBTQ+ community, that is not a slogan. It is a line in the sand. It is a recognition of history. It is an acknowledgment of present danger. And it is a commitment to the future we want to build.

If you are uncomfortable right now, that may be worth sitting with. Discomfort is not harm. Exclusion is.

Pride was never meant to be neat or convenient. It was born from resistance. It grew through coalition. And it survives only when we refuse to let fear or misinformation divide us.

There is no LGB without the T. Period.

And at OC Pride, we will continue to say that out loud, even when it would be easier not to.

Because our community deserves better than silence.

Bryan Terry
Executive Director
On behalf of the OC Pride team