The history of LGBTQ rights is inextricably linked to gender non-conformity. It was transgender women of color—Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy—who stood on the front lines of the Stonewall Riots in 1969. "There was a time when the 'T' was silent in the acronym, but it was never silent in the streets," says Dr. Erica Baker, a historian of gender studies. "Trans women threw the first bricks because they had the least to lose and the most to gain."

To understand where LGBTQ culture is going, one must understand the specific evolution of the transgender community within it—a journey from silent footnotes to the vanguard of the movement.

Center trans voices in conversations about their lives.