Crucially, the LGBTQ culture has rallied to defend the "T" because they recognize the wedge strategy. Anti-trans laws are rarely just about trans people. Laws defining "sex" strictly as biological assignment at birth are designed to eventually roll back gay marriage and anti-discrimination protections for LGB people. The far right knows that if they can destroy the legal foundation of gender identity, sexual orientation protections become fragile.

In the early days of the gay rights movement, the "respectability politics" of mainstream gay organizations often tried to distance themselves from drag queens and trans people, viewing them as too radical to appeal to straight society. Rivera famously stormed a gay rights rally in the 1970s, screaming, "You all go to bars because of what I did for you! And yet you throw us out!" This tension—between assimilationist LGB groups and liberationist trans/gender nonconforming groups—is the original wound that the community has spent fifty years trying to heal.

The current wave of anti-trans propaganda is an attempt to fracture that solidarity. It hopes to convince gay men that "protecting trans kids" has nothing to do with them. It hopes to convince lesbians that being a "gender abolitionist" is incompatible with loving women.

Music has also played a role. While mainstream pop has embraced gay icons (from Freddie Mercury to Lady Gaga), trans artists like Kim Petras, Anohni, and SOPHIE (producer for Charli XCX) have shifted the sonic landscape. SOPHIE’s hyperpop, characterized by "hyperkinetic, synthetic, and exaggerated" sounds, is a direct auditory metaphor for the trans experience: constructed, unnatural to bigots, but utterly beautiful and liberating. In the current political climate (mid-2020s), the transgender community has become the primary target of conservative political machinery. From bathroom bills to bans on gender-affirming healthcare for minors to restrictions on drag performances, the assault on trans existence is relentless.

Consider the case of a transgender man (assigned female at birth) who is attracted to men. He is both trans and gay. Where does he belong? In the 2000s and 2010s, the rise of "no femmes, no fats, no Asians, no trans" on dating apps highlighted a painful reality: internal transphobia within LGB circles. Many trans people report feeling fetishized or excluded in spaces that are supposed to be safe havens.

The glamorous, white, feminine trans woman (a la Caitlyn Jenner) is not the reality for most trans people. The most vulnerable trans individuals are those living at the intersection of transphobia, racism, and poverty—often forced into survival sex work due to employment discrimination. LGBTQ organizations have shifted focus from merely hosting galas to funding mutual aid networks, housing funds, and legal defense for incarcerated trans individuals.