On March 31, what should have been a day of collective celebration and power for Maryland’s transgender community, Transgender Day of Visibility was instead hijacked by public hostility toward Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. The verbal attack was out of line, disrespectful, and did nothing to move us closer to justice. FreeState Justice did not applaud. We did not stand. We know the difference between holding power accountable and performing outrage without an actionable plan.

Let’s be honest: the Moore-Miller administration and the LGBTQIA+ legislative caucus have shown up for our community in ways that matter. From the signing of the Trans Health Equity Act to the launch of the first-in-the-nation ‘Trevor Train the Trainer’ suicide prevention initiative with The Trevor Project, a program that equips individuals to train others in suicide prevention techniques, this administration has made meaningful, measurable investments in the lives of LGBTQIA+ Marylanders. 

The Governor’s proposed FY26 budget didn’t just protect access to gender-affirming care—it doubled on hate crime prevention and increased support for community centers doing the work. This is what leadership looks like. It’s not just symbolism—it’s dollars, policy, access, and intention. And it bears repeating: Gov. Wes Moore is the first Black governor of Maryland. His leadership holds particular significance for those of us who live at the intersection of racial, gender, and queer identities. Understanding intersectionality is not optional—it is essential if we are serious about liberation for all LGBTQIA+ people, especially those who are Black, Brown, and historically marginalized. 

What we experienced on March 31 was the opposite. It was disorganized, divisive, and frankly, disappointing. FreeState Justice has not had a working relationship with the current Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs, a body that is supposed to represent and advocate for our community’s needs. The Commission has not come to the table with a legislative or budgetary request. There has been no coordinated policy agenda. There has been no coalition-building. There has been no community-informed process. That matters.

If your goals are equity and inclusion, your work must be transparent and collaborative. Not ambush tactics like sudden changes in event format or last-minute planning that leave key stakeholders out of the loop. The TDOV event, coordinated by the Commission and a few community members at the eleventh hour, lacked the strategic groundwork our community needs and deserves. It was self-serving and dishonest.

It’s particularly disheartening to contrast this with what we accomplished two years ago when the governor made history by recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility inside the State House. He led the charge. We were proud to stand with him then—and we still are.

We honored a moment that acknowledged not just trans identity, but also racial equity and our collective history of struggle. To witness that same governor, who had previously met with this Commission openly and respectfully, be publicly ridiculed without acknowledgment of his administration’s historic support was a failure of leadership—not on his part, but on those who opted for conflict instead of fostering community.

Let’s be clear: we’re not saying don’t challenge power. We’re saying do it with purpose. Do it with facts. Do it with a strategy. If you’re going to call yourself a leader in this movement, show us the policy platform. Show us the data. Show us the budget line. Show us the work.

At FreeState Justice, we’ve done that, and we will continue to do that. We’ve applied—and will keep applying—for state dollars through the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services. Why? Because those grants help us serve survivors of domestic violence, LGBTQIA+ youth, victims of hate crimes, and people impacted by community violence. Many of whom are people of color. This is where real change happens—at the intersection of advocacy, accountability, and access.

It’s time for new leadership on the Maryland LGBTQIA+ Commission. Leadership that values and prioritizes coalition over conflict. Leadership that invites feedback and shares power. Leadership that understands how Annapolis operates, how budgets are constructed, and how community victories are won—not demanded. The urgency for this change is palpable and should resonate with everyone who cares about our community. 

We know the stories. We know the statistics. Now we need a Commission willing to put in the work with all of us—not just a chosen few. This collective effort is crucial for the progress of our community and should be felt by all who are part of it.

Maryland’s transgender community deserves more than fleeting moments; we deserve ongoing movement.

Lauren Pruitt is legal director of FreeState Justice; Ronnie L. Taylor is the group’s  Advocacy, Policy, & Partnerships Director.

Democrats can win if they pledge solidarity. Wisconsin showed it’s possible. Solidarity doesn’t mean there aren’t primaries and debates. What it means is everyone pledges to support the winner of the Democratic primary. The midterm elections will be local elections. Democratic candidates must do whatever they can, often highlighting different issues, to get their voters to the polls. For my support in the general election, a candidate must pledge their first vote to elect Democratic leaders, whether in the statehouse, or Congress. 

It’s been clear for many years what the goals of the Democratic Party are. That doesn’t mean every Democrat is for everything the party espouses. That is what comes from having a ‘Big Tent.’ The party stands for: equality, gun control, raising taxes on the wealthy, and working to ameliorate climate change. It stands for choice, passing the ERA and Equality Act, fair immigration laws, being part of NATO, and the World Health Organization. The party supports raising the minimum wage, strong Medicare and Medicaid, robust Social Security, unions, and working toward a two-state solution in the Middle East. The party supports Ukraine remaining a free nation, fair trade policies, and making sure we have three equal branches of government; legislative, executive, and judicial, to ensure a vibrant system of checks and balances. The Republican Party, which today is Donald Trump’s MAGA party, paid for by his Nazi sympathizing co-president, Elon Musk, has clearly shown they believe in none of this.

So, my serious question to those Democrats and independents, who write and shout for one reason or another, “I will never again support a Democrat,” or those who believe in these Democratic Party values but then stay home and don’t vote: What is it you are looking for? Help me, and others, to understand. With this wide schism in values between the two parties, and the reality is except for a couple of rare districts, there are only two parties that can actually win a general election, what do you think you can accomplish by your actions, or lack of action? I am at a loss. So again, please help me understand.

I was brought up on institutional politics. I believe more strongly than ever in the Democratic Party. Do our leaders do everything right? No. Do they sometimes get me mad? YES! Should some of them retire and let younger people get elected, definitely YES! But despite all of this, the schism in values is so wide, the thought of continued domination by the MAGA Republican Party is so frightening, I believe we will not have a democracy left to fight for if we don’t stand together, and defeat them. 

We lost this past election and are stuck with President Felon, and his co-president, the Nazi sympathizing megalomaniac, Musk. We lost for a host of reasons, a big one is our voters either stayed home, voted for a third party, or some even for Republicans, to register their displeasure. Whatever the reason, they created this frightening reality we face today. 

I have a difficult time trying to understand how others don’t see this. Or if they do, why some still don’t want to join hands, to do something about it. That is my problem, and a huge problem for the Democratic Party. The question is, how do we reach those people who often say they share the Democratic Party’s values, but don’t come out to vote in huge numbers to help change things, or at the minimum, stop Trump/Musk, and what they are doing to destroy our country?

In 2024, Trump won 77,284,118 votes, or 49.8 percent of the votes cast for president. Trump won 3,059,799 more popular votes than he won in 2020. Kamala Harris won 74,999,166 votes or 48.3 percent of the votes cast. That was 6,285,500 fewer popular votes than Biden won in 2020. So had even half of those voters come out for Harris, she might have won. So those who didn’t vote for the Democrat in 2024, where do they see the country going? What is it they want? Will anything get them to vote for Democrats in the future? In 2024, 116,000 changed votes, out of over 15 million cast in three states — 40,000 in Michigan, 61,000 in Pennsylvania, and 15,000 in Wisconsin — would have changed the election.  

I hear Democrats attacking the party for not fighting back. They then follow that up with “I will never vote for Democrats again!” So, again, my question is “who is it they will vote for?” Some say they want younger people to lead the party. I agree with that. I have written there should be age limits, and term limits. I don’t like that nearly 60 out of 100 senators are over 70. Many over 80. They are in both parties. It is time to stop asking young voters to vote for their grandparents, or even great-grandparents. 

But then my question to those who complain is, “what are you going to do about it?” Seems to me unless you vote, it won’t change. I think to get the younger people you want as leaders in the future, you have to work to elect them. First, encourage the people you want to run for office. When they agree, you will then have to volunteer in their campaigns, donate money if you can, and come out and vote for them. In my mind, learned in old line institutional politics, that is the way you get change.

I recently saw a post on Facebook, “sign a petition to not give any money to Democrats until Schumer (D-NY) resigns as Senate minority leader.” I am not sure what that person expects to happen, and how not giving to Democrats doesn’t play directly into the hands of Musk and Trump. Knowledge of the system, means you understand the leaders of the party in the Senate are elected by their caucus. What happens if you don’t like the Democratic caucus’s choice to replace Schumer? 

For me, again an older guy brought up on institutional politics, and having political science and public administration degrees, I have a hard time understanding young people today thinking they can get instant change in politics. We do not have a king or dictator, even though Trump thinks he is one, and whose heroes are Putin and Xi Jinping. The instant change he is trying for isn’t progress, but as we see, moving backwards. Is that what we want? Our Constitution is written, and our government is set up, so change, moving forward towards progress, is incremental. It takes time. Whether it’s progress in women’s rights, the rights of the LGBTQ community, the disability community, civil rights, or ameliorating climate change; it takes time. I know that’s incredibly frustrating. But to see progress one must stick with it. 

Over all the years I have voted, never have I voted for a perfect candidate. Perfect candidates, like perfect people, don’t exist. Is that what young people are looking for?  I don’t know, but I think the Democratic Party, and its local candidates, need to find out what it will take to get people out to vote, and vote for them.  

My thoughts are the 2025 and 2026 elections will be determined at the local level. From school board, to county council, from statehouse, to Congress. The debates, and fight for votes, will be on the ground. I believe as we move forward, the wins will come from the ground up, not the top down. It will be up to those over six million who didn’t vote for Harris in 2024, to decide if they will come out for Democrats locally in 2025 and 2026. If they do, we will win like we did in Wisconsin. If they don’t, we may actually lose our democracy. 

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.

The Transforming Hearts Collective led a webinar on Tuesday for pro-LGBTQ Christians. Featuring trans religious leaders and activists including Transforming Hearts Collective founders Zr. Alex Kapitan, Teo Drake, and Rev. Mykal Slack alongside trans and HIV human rights advocate Katie Willingham, Soulforce Executive Director Rev. Alba Onofrio, and legal and policy strategist and human rights advocate Sam Ames, the webinar foregrounded the moral and spiritual need to defend trans lives. 

Rev. Slack, community minister for Worship & Spiritual Care for Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism, began the webinar by grounding attendees spiritually. “My God is a God who I know loves me.” It is critical to be “doing trans justice work from a faith perspective because it is the ongoing, everyday outward expression of God as love that reminds us,” Slack continued at the start of the webinar, “especially when we’re constantly getting messages to the contrary, how valuable our lives are.” This is the work of disrupting hateful messages and harmful theology, Rev. Slack continued. 

The Transforming Hearts Collective, co-leader and Unitarian Universalist community minister Zr. Alex Kapitan shared, is a national trans-led, faith-based organization based in North Carolina that helps trans and queer people to access healing and resilience and helps faith communities be welcoming refuges for queer and trans people. 

“We do a lot of work with faith groups,” Kapitan said in an interview, “that are pro-LGBTQ but sometimes need a little bit of help to figure out how to live into that value in this moment, how to show up for queer and trans people right now.” 

This webinar, funded by the Arcus Foundation, is the result of year-long work to help pro-LGBTQ+ Christians understand trans identity and the ways in which trans people have been used as a mobilizing target among far-right politicians and faith leaders. This is why the webinar was specifically targeted at pro-LGBTQ+ Christians but welcomed all people because, as Kapitan explained, Christianity has been weaponized by white Christian nationalists against trans people.

“This particular webinar grew out of wanting to speak directly to progressive Christians,” Kapitan said, “and equip them to show up in this moment and not cede religion to the religious right.” As Sam Ames shared after an overview of current anti-trans legislation in the webinar, far-right politicians “have expected religion to be on the side of fear. We cannot cede morality to those who would use it as a weapon. It is our responsibility as people of faith to use it as a shield.” 

But even if people agree with this, Kapitan explained, the faith communities they work with often do not feel comfortable standing up for or discussing trans peoples’ lives because they do not know enough about trans lives and as a result become susceptible to anti-trans disinformation. 

The goal of the webinar and the companion resource collection–one of three courses by the Transforming Hearts Collective–offered to attendees is to mobilize pro-LGBTQ+ Christians around trans rights as a moral and human rights issue, that trans people are sacred and worthy like all other people, that trans people are being used as scapegoats by far-right Christian nationalists, and that gender affirming care is not only a form of spiritual care but also suicide prevention. This is more critical than ever with the growing anti-trans conversion therapy movement; most of the programs and practitioners involved are faith based. 

“I fully believe, as a person of faith,” Kapitan said, “that we are each called to be a full authentic self and that only we can know, in conversation with the divine, what that fullness looks like, so I do believe that gender identity and gender expression are a key component of our authenticity. If you are able to have the care that’s needed to help you fully embody that sense of self, that is 100% a spiritual thing for a lot of people.”

“Whether that is directly because there are trans people joining on the call who are at the end of their rope and they need to hear faith leaders say ‘who you are is valid, who you are is real, who you are is worthy and divine,’” Kapitan said, or helping people of faith make more space, show up more fully, be a stronger voice in their contexts, whether that’s inside their own church, whether that’s in their local legislature in a way that trans people see, this work is live saving. 

Teo Drake, a fellow Transforming Hearts Collective co-leader and community organizer, speaks to the importance of being embraced by his own communities, during the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and today. Drake was raised Catholic and educated in the Catholic school system in the 1980s as a visible queer and gender nonconforming person. Choosing to transition and live as his authentic self as a queer trans man gave him a reason to fight to survive living with HIV/AIDS. Drake is now a practicing Buddhist and says that the practice helps him to be resilient in hard times.

“For a lot of folks in faith,” Drake said in an interview, “it’s important to say that you can as one single human being be connected to many others. It makes a huge difference just simply holding someone personally, holding them in community, wrapping yourselves around them,” as the webinar invites pro-LGBTQ Christians to do. “As someone who has survived the AIDS epidemic and lived with HIV for a long time, the effects of people showing up, even though there was a fear of HIV, I’m here because of their courage to buck the system.”

Drake continues that this visibility of trans and queer faith leaders alongside cis faith leaders affirming the existence and belonging of trans and queer people is especially important for young people. “It’s really huge for youth in particular to see their congregation, the ministers they know down the street suddenly stand up and say ‘not on my watch.’ Kids and youth are hearing all the media, but they’re not hearing the good media. They need to hear it out in the public square that someone is going to put their body on the line for them.”

This webinar and the accompanying resources–or rather five-part-course–makes clear that it is the responsibility of all Christians to affirm trans lives. “People have a responsibility to learn about that disinformation,” Kapitan said, “that propaganda, and at the very least, be able to recognize it, if not be able to counter it,” and to educate their neighbors, friends, and families about rampant anti-trans disinformation, to invite and empower more people of faith to join the resistance against the far-right anti-trans Christian nationalist movement. 

Because as Kapitan explained, “these systems that trans people are suffering the most under right now, they affect everyone. They hurt everyone. They limit everyone. So much of my own call to ministry is to help everyone get free because if trans people are free then all of us can be free from gender-based violence, restrictions and norms.” Trans people are just one of many groups targeted by Christian nationalist groups, and it’s not just about trans and queer people today but about future generations of trans and queer children that will continue to be born into religious families. 

For them and for other LGBTQ+ individuals, religion may be a key part of how they approach the world, and it’s only by mobilizing queer and trans-affirming Christians–people whose communities have caused the greatest harm as a result of widespread anti-trans legislation and theologizing–that hearts and futures will be transformed for the better. 

The Defend Trans Lives resource collection was created by the Transforming Hearts Collective in partnership with enfleshed, Soulforce, and Queer Theology. It is a free course offered alongside the 6-session online course, “Trans Inclusion in Congregations,” and shorter course, “Responding to the Anti-Trans Movement,” also offered by the Transforming Hearts Collective. 

The Defend Trans Lives collection includes five videos featuring trans faith leaders and trans activists from the Transgender Law Center, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and more–including several faith leaders and activists who presented at the webinar. 

These videos, like the webinar, seek to empower people of faith to become active, educated advocates and organizers for trans rights. Out of respect for the risks involved for interviewees, people accessing the course are required to sign into the site in order to access but once people sign into the website, all of the coursework is completely free.