Within LGBTQ+ spaces, tensions can arise—e.g., debates over whether trans women belong in women’s sports or lesbian spaces. However, mainstream LGBTQ+ organizations (GLAAD, HRC, The Trevor Project) affirm that and that excluding trans people fractures collective strength.

Popular imagination often credits cisgender gay men and drag queens with sparking the modern LGBTQ rights movement at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. While partially true, this narrative has historically erased the central roles of trans women, particularly trans women of color. Figures like Marsha P. Johnson, a self-identified drag queen and trans activist (who often used she/her pronouns), and Sylvia Rivera, a Latina trans woman and co-founder of STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), were on the frontlines, throwing bricks and resisting police brutality. Rivera, in particular, fought fiercely for the inclusion of “street queens” and homeless trans youth, often feeling abandoned by mainstream gay liberation groups that prioritized respectability politics over radical action.

The situation abroad reflects a similar "progress vs. regress" dynamic: Transgender Population by Country 2026

: Research indicates that younger generations and those who are TGD themselves tend to have stronger inclusive beliefs and lower levels of "binary genderism"—the belief that only two fixed genders exist. The Pillars of LGBTQ+ Culture