Lavender Rights Project: Fighting Oppression, Creating an Equitable Future
In recent months, and especially following the results of the 2024 election, the battle for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming rights has come to the forefront of the LGBTQIA+ Rights movement. In several states—most notably Florida and Texas—many new laws and statutes are being created and passed that limit the rights of transgender people.
Whether banning or restricting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and adults, banning or restricting transgender people from using public restrooms that align with their gender identity, or stopping trans athletes from joining sports teams, transgender youth and adults are facing an uphill battle to equal rights. Now, post-election, the possibility of facing more anti-trans legislation under the Trump administration has become a very real threat to transgender individuals all over the country.
Early in his first term as President, Donald Trump publicly called for the removal of all transgender individuals from the military, and he has recently claimed that he intends to do the same at the start of his next term—but it’s likely he will not stop there. As laid out in Project 2025, a “Presidential transition project” created by the Heritage Foundation and being pushed by several conservative groups, the Trump administration is being called to keep transgender individuals from competing in sports, “protect” traditional marriage, and complete other anti-LGBTQIA+ action items.
LRP doing the work / The Evergreen Echo via YouTube
The fight for trans rights is a battle that gained momentum with the Stonewall riot in 1969, but transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people have been struggling against the system since well before then. The movement has had many wins, but the fight hasn’t ended yet. In 2024, after gaining so many momentous strides towards LGBTQIA+ equality, the battle facing the trans community feels scary and difficult, but necessary, and the need for action is at an all-time high.
Answering this call to action is the Lavender Rights Project. Finding its start in 2019, the Lavender Rights Project (LRP) is a Seattle-based organization working to prevent gender-based violence, focusing on the community’s most affected group, Black trans women and femmes. LRP seeks to disrupt the systems built on transmisogyny and anti-Blackness through legal and social services. The organization also offers protection to the Black trans feminine community, providing financial and emotional resources to those in need. In their own words:
“Lavender Rights Project (LRP) elevates the power, autonomy, and leadership of the Black intersex & gender diverse community through intersectional legal and social services. We utilize the law as an organizing principle to affirm our civil rights and self-determination.
Our organization disrupts oppressive systems that target Black gender diverse and intersex communities of color and lead to disproportionate levels of poverty, housing disparities, and gender-based violence, especially among Black and Indigenous people.”
Black Trans Comedy Showcase 2024
The Evergreen Echo
LRP’s Board of Directors and Staff Leadership consists of a team once known as the Washington State Black Trans Task Force, a collection of individuals with extensive experience in activism and community building. United against oppressive systems, the collective produces events to bring the community together (such as the Black Trans Comedy Showcase), co-manages a housing complex to provide a home for QT2BIPOC—queer, trans, Two-Spirit, Black, Indigenous, and people of color—who are experiencing homelessness in King County, and supports the Black Trans Legal Professionals Network.
LRP is a part of NMAC, Centerlink’s Community of LGBT+ Centers, and the Equality Federation, connecting them to dozens of organizations which fight for the rights of BIPOC, HIV+, queer, trans individuals, and of course, folks at the intersections of these identities. It is LRP’s belief that the people who are most affected by the inequitable systems in place should be at the forefront of the movement:
“Lavender Rights Project is creating a world in which the Black and Indigenous gender-diverse communities are at the forefront of liberation and recognized for our power to build. By following their wisdom and nuanced understanding of community needs, we will build decolonized systems of care and support for our people.”
By uplifting those who are most affected, LRP believes we can uproot the systems in place and build new systems that will create equal opportunity for all.
Another message espoused by LRP is that honoring those in the trans community who have passed is not only about remembrance and grief, but about honoring their lives through action. On November 15, 2024, LRP released a new mission statement called, “Strengthen Our Roots: Building Black Power Through Unity and Community.” In the document, LRP says:
“Our Transcestors and our Ancestors fought tirelessly for freedom and justice. Their legacy inspires us to continue the fight for liberation. By honoring their sacrifices and building on their work, we can create a more just and equitable world. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and their legacy fuels our fight for liberation and Strengthen Our Roots by building Black Power.”
