Andy Reeder (she/her) is the Communications Coordinator for the Harriet Hancock Center in Columbia, SC., and a communications contractor for the Campaign for Southern Equality. She is a queer veteran dedicated to advancing the rights and providing safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people. Outside of communications work, Andy enjoys home improvement projects, video games, and being outdoors with her dogs and partner.
It has been a few months since Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) but its significance has resonated with me every day since. This year, the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center in Columbia, South Carolina, where I volunteer as the Communications Coordinator, hosted a TDOR vigil on the front lawn of the SC Statehouse. Over 100 people showed up in solidarity as we stood on the steps, lit with the colors of the trans flag, and read the names of those who were taken from us too soon by anti-trans violence. That in itself felt like a protest, a clear statement to lawmakers that we aren’t going to let them ignore the effects of their death-dealing policies.
Some attendees feared that our public display of support would be interrupted. They worried that instead of remembering and honoring the lives lost, our gathering might become another headline of hatred in America rearing its ugly head. In the weeks leading up to TDOR, I imagined countless scenarios in which we would face hate on social media, encounter protesters, or even experience violence during the event. We were lucky that our vigil remained peaceful and undisturbed by the hate we know is brewing throughout the country.
On the steps that night, and throughout our movement for trans rights here in South Carolina, it was clear that our strength depends on not only the powerful trans folks who are standing up for their own rights, but on allyship from other queer people. As a cis person, I am committed to continue standing with my trans siblings every single day until their existence isn’t a protest, isn’t questioned, and they are able to live as their authentic selves free of fear of persecution. I worry that some LGB+ folks do not share my commitment, and see the attack on transgender rights as disconnected from our equality. I believe our struggles for liberation are deeply intertwined, and we can not abandon our trans siblings.
The ACLU tracked 533 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the United States during the 2024 legislative cycle, with South Carolina accounting for 32 of those. 2025 is already shaping up to surpass that record, with over 195 bills already being tracked. The majority of these bills directly attack the rights of our trans siblings to participate in daily life–placing restrictions on everything from accessing medically-necessary healthcare to using public bathrooms. It is not just transgender rights that are under attack, however. We have seen massive increases in laws that censor discussion of sexuality, same-sex couples, and families in schools. Currently, twenty-one states restrict discussion of LGBTQ+ identity in schools. These bills represent more than just numbers. They represent real people, families, and lives under threat. Here in South Carolina, a bill was passed and banning gender affirming care for minors outright and restricting the use of public funding for gender-affirming care regardless of age. As a byproduct, MUSC, one of the largest medical providers in the state, stopped providing gender affirming care for all ages. In the last couple weeks, we have seen national attention on United States v. Skrmetti, a Supreme Court case that could not only impact gender-affirming care access for youth, it could change how our legal system defines sex discrimination, putting the rights of women and all LGBTQ+ people at risk.
It’s no secret that lawmakers are targeting trans people and the LGBTQ+ community at large.
Their plans are clear. A social and political “othering” of queer people. Since the presidential election, I have seen people distancing themselves from the trans community in an attempt to “save themselves”. Abandoning trans people as they face outright discrimination and persecution will only lead to a greater systematic oppression of all those who do not fit the mold of a white, patriarchal, far right society. We are headed into four years of anti-LGBTQ+ leadership under Trump, where we are likely to see anti-LGBTQ+, and especially anti-trans, policies passed at the federal level in addition to the anti-LGBTQ+ policies we have seen year after year at the local level here in South Carolina. During these trying times, I encourage our community to be unified–because divided, we all lose.
In this moment, I am reminded of the 1946 poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller “First They Came”– a call to his fellow Germans to not be complicit in the evil actions of Nazi leaders. I encourage you to read it, and ask yourself– how are you speaking out for trans people?
First They Came – by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1946)
