Why Now

On May 22nd 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women released a Special Procedures statement calling for police protection of anti-trans feminists and other activists targeting trans people. This statement spread like wildfire within an international network: Women's Declaration International (WDI), a global campaign led by white academics of the Global North to undermine trans people's rights to live freely in society.

Meanwhile, trans and gender diverse people worldwide face widespread suppression by the media and state. We are being barred from restrooms, our access to gender affirming care is being gutted, Pride events are being banned or are targeted by anti-LGBTQ+ supremacists, and if we dare protest we face violence from police.

The fight for trans rights is the first beachhead in the global fight for human rights. Trans and gender diverse people are under attack by highly coordinated, international networks. We are in every community dating back to the dawn of humanity. The attacks on us are already bleeding over into attacks on other vulnerable groups because our rights as human beings are inherently linked. The opposition aims to enforce an outdated and abusive hierarchy and if we don't stop them now it will spread fast. A threat to trans people is a threat to us all.

"The oppression of women is inextricably linked to the oppression of trans people. Trans people have been honored in numerous indigenous communities across the planet. Trans people aren’t some sort of new Post-Modern manifestation of individualism. Trans people are people; people who have worked on the Journal collective and stood on the front lines of the ecological resistance."

- The Earth First! Journal Collective

Report: Rights For Me, Not For Thee

Rights For Me, Not For Thee: How Anti-Trans Feminists Took Their Advocacy to the United Nations is a landmark investigative report into the origins, strategy, and impact of the global anti-trans feminist network Women's Declaration International (WDI).

The report is joint published by Health Liberation Now! and Gender Analysis, two trans-led projects investigating anti-trans mobilization and how it impacts health care. We encourage translation of this work to increase reach.

Read the full report

Additional information:

Appendix I: WDI’s Ideological Roots

Appendix II: Analyzing WDI’s Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights

Appendix III: Analyzing Signatures to WDI’s Declaration

Appendix IV: Notable Speakers at the WDI USA National Political Convention

What We Can Do

Strengthen community relationships

Follow the lead of trans-led organizations, which are the most familiar with the impact anti-trans organizing.

Center diverse, representative voices impacted by anti-trans organizing. This includes but is not limited to trans people of color, trans sex workers, and trans survivors of conversion practices.

Center international solidarity, as WDI and other anti-trans networks are global and heavily impact trans communities in the Global South.

Strategically partner with intersectional feminist and women’s organizations to strengthen trans-inclusive campaigns.

“Build from the ground up” by networking with local, grassroots organizations in addition to national and international organizations.

Educate and inoculate

Develop and distribute resources that address key points of misinformation targeting trans people.

Promote trans and sex worker-led initiatives, which deal with the brunt of state surveilance and brutality.

Promote trans-led initiatives that offer support for people currently or seeking to detransition. This expands networks of support for people in need while minimizing the reach of anti-trans networks attempting to recruit and exploit them.

Coach regional and international feminist, women’s, and broader civil-society organizations against anti-trans feminist rhetoric.

Expose threats to trans liberation for strategic resistance

Identify allegiances built between anti-trans feminist and religious conservative organizations or political parties.

Raise the alarm on collaborations between anti-trans feminist and Christian Right organizations and activists in media, testimonies and policy submissions.

Leverage the rift between anti-trans feminists over rightwing collaborations to make it harder for them to influence feminist and women’s organizations.

Build a sustainable counter-resistance

Invest in community resources fighting against anti-trans activism and policies, both local or international.

Invest in community resources researching threats to trans people in the broader society.

Prioritize organizations from marginalized, under-resourced trans communities targeted by anti-trans activists, such as trans sex worker collectives or groups supporting incarcerated trans people.

Volunteer at a LGBTQ+ organization resisting anti-trans policies and activism.

Create structures for collective care among movement organizers to manage burnout, loss of access to health care, and recovering from anti-trans harassment.

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