These groups argue that the inclusion of trans women in female-only spaces erodes safety, or that the rise of non-binary identities is a rejection of gay liberation. However, mainstream LGBTQ organizations—from GLAAD to The Trevor Project—overwhelmingly reject this stance.

A useful analogy: Gender identity is who you go to bed as. Sexual orientation is who you go to bed with. They are independent traits. A transgender woman can be lesbian, gay, bisexual, straight, or any other orientation.

Originating in the Black and Latine trans communities of New York City, ballroom culture gave us "voguing," "slay," and the concept of "chosen families."

Furthermore, the intersection with disability justice and racial justice is becoming more pronounced. The transgender community, particularly Black and Indigenous trans women, face epidemic levels of violence. The LGBTQ culture of the future cannot be exclusively white, gay, and affluent; it must be brown, trans, and poor, because those are the lives on the line.

Transgender culture has gifted the broader world a more precise vocabulary for the human experience. Concepts like (who you are) versus sexual orientation (who you love) became mainstream largely through the advocacy of the trans community.