To be a member of the LGBTQ community in 2026 is to understand that gender identity is not separate from sexual orientation; they are interwoven threads in a larger tapestry of human diversity. Supporting the transgender community means protecting drag story hours, affirming non-binary youth, mourning the names read aloud on TDoR, and celebrating the radical truth that we are not defined by the bodies we are born into, but by the selves we create.

Riots against police harassment occurred well before the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, including the Cooper Do-nuts Riot (1959) in Los Angeles and the Compton's Cafeteria Riot (1966) in San Francisco.