Pride as Protest: Trans and Queer Resistance Is the Work of Now
Across the country, trans and queer communities are leading the fight for freedom in the face of escalating legislative attacks and right-wing scapegoating. While lawmakers attempt to silence, surveil, and erase, trans organizers are mobilizing, educating, and transforming the political landscape from the ground up. In Tennessee, a recent court ruling allowed a ban on gender-affirming care for youth to stand—one of many devastating decisions that underscore the stakes of this moment.
Pride is more than celebration—it is resistance, strategy, and survival. It is the daily, disciplined work of building collective power and protecting each other.
This Pride Month, we’re lifting up Groundswell Action Fund grantees who are doing just that. These organizations, along with all Groundswell Action Fund grantee partners, are advancing trans- and queer-led electoral and policy organizing, reshaping narratives, and fighting for a future where trans and LGBQ+ people are safe, supported, and free. These organizations are actively building power, protection, and possibility.
Image courtesy of National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund—the oldest grassroots LGBTQ network in the U.S.—builds political power, takes action, and drives change at the federal, state, and local levels. They mobilize LGBTQ+ communities and allies through voter education, civic engagement, and high-profile ballot measure and electoral campaigns
In a political climate marked by escalating anti-LGBTQ+ attacks, the Action Fund has actively urged Congress to pass critical federal voting rights legislation. By combining strategic public education, digital outreach, and on-the-ground organizing, they empower queer and trans voters to shape policy, not just politics, ensuring that the voices of those most impacted are heard loud and clear.
What sets the Action Fund apart is its deep-rooted commitment to intersectional justice. Their All of Me. All the Time. initiative centers the needs of marginalized LGBTQ+ individuals—those living at the intersections of race, class, gender identity, disability, immigration status, and more. Through targeted campaigns, lobbying elected officials at all levels of government and leadership development, they build long-term power and resiliency within LGBTQ+ communities.
Image courtesy of SONG Power
Southerners on New Ground (SONG) Power
SONG is a regional queer liberation organization rooted in rural and small-town America, built by and for LGBTQ+ people of color in the South. Since its founding in 1993, SONG has focused on dismantling intersecting systems of oppression—racism, economic exploitation, homophobia, and transphobia—through long-term movement building, community leadership, and cultural organizing. SONG Power was founded in 2020 as the C4 advocacy and power-building arm of Southerners on New Ground.
SONG Power establishes grassroots infrastructure across the rural South by recruiting and training QTPOC organizers, supporting regional membership, and growing civic leadership across Black, Brown, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities. They equip Southern activists with strategic tools, organizing schools, leadership cohorts, phone and door campaigns, and cultural events, to push for policy change and build collective power.
Fueling this work is their commitment to coalition-building and resource redistribution; they anchor regional alliances like the Southern Power Fund and collaborate on campaigns with Movement for Black Lives and the National Bail Out Collective. With over 43,000 members and supporters, they sustain visible, intergenerational, and cross-racial networks across the Deep South.
Image courtesy of Equality NC
Equality NC
Equality NC is North Carolina’s oldest and largest statewide organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights with a mission to empower queer and trans North Carolinians through advocacy, public education, and political engagement.
In spring 2025, Equality NC stepped to the forefront of the resistance against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation targeting transgender youth. As the North Carolina General Assembly pushes forward bills banning gender‑affirming care, restricting bathroom access (the “bathroom bill”), censoring trans education, and barring trans students from sports, Equality NC has mobilized swift, comprehensive responses.
Their work spans legislative rapid‑response, community education, grassroots organizing, and direct family support. Equality NC leaders have authored legal memos on bills like HB 808 and HB 574; hosted emergency town halls; partnered with groups like the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project to provide families with vital resources; and run their ongoing NC is Ready campaign to empower trans youth and educators.
Beyond crisis response, Equality NC invests in long-term power building—hosting Rural Youth Empowerment fellowships, training inclusive public officials, and pushing employer diversity initiatives. Their intersectional strategy uplifts queer and trans people of color, rural communities, educators, and families in pursuit of lasting freedom and justice.
Trans and LGBQ+ leadership is shaping our democracy, our movements, and our future. This Pride Month, invest in the organizations fighting for policy change, building power at the ballot box, and defending trans and queer lives with every action.