GLAAD has brought together celebrities and leading feminist and social justice organisations to sign an open letter to support all trans women and girls.

“In observance of Women’s History Month and Transgender Day of Visibility, we write this letter as feminist leaders in advocacy, business, entertainment, media, politics, and social justice who stand as, with, and for transgender and nonbinary people,” the letter reads. “Trans women and girls have been an integral part of the fight for gender liberation. We uphold that truth and denounce the ongoing anti-transgender rhetoric and efforts we witness in various industries.”

Transgender rights have been under fire in numerous states in America. Earlier this week the Arkansas senate passed a bill banning gender affirming healthcare for trans youth. The letter called out these recent rollbacks. 

“It is time for the long history of assaults (legislative, physical, social, and verbal) against trans women and girls to end. For far too long, lawmakers have worked to strip trans women of their civil liberties—in 2021, once again, we’ve seen a wave of bigoted governmental policies and legislation. Many of these laws target the rights of girls to play school sports or criminalise doctors for treating trans youth and their families.

“The women’s movement has seen doctors targeted before for providing us with necessary medical care and services, and we refuse to let youth endure that now. Plus, we know that anti-trans sports bans are as unnecessary as they are harmful—and that women athletes at both the professional and college levels support inclusion.”

Celebrities such as Sarah Paulson, Brie Larson, Eva Longoria, Halle Berry, Julianne Moore, Lena Dunham and Selena Gomez, Tegan and Sara and Lilly Singh signed the letter. They were joined by high profile trans women such as Laverne Cox, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Mj Rodriguez, Munroe Bergdorf and Sarah McBride. Various community organisations also lent their support such as Outsports, PFLAG National, Planned Parenthood and the Trevor project.

The letter also took aim at TERFs. “These bigoted efforts are also aided by a contingent of self-identified feminists, who have been promoting damaging and violent ideas about trans people for years in the United States and internationally. Their vitriol is, in fact, not feminist at all. True feminists do not wish to limit any woman’s identity or freedom to fully be herself. Allowing transphobic rhetoric to go unchecked also strengthens the legislative efforts of anti-trans politicians—who now cloak their bigotry in language about protecting or supporting women.”

It concludes with a call to arms to defend trans women and ensure that feminism remains expansive for future generations.