By Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis–
The setting could not have been more iconic: the foot of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King had proclaimed his dream of equality, jobs, and freedom 62 years ago. Once again, our nation stands at a crossroads, and earlier this month at WorldPride, LGBTIQ+ Americans and supporters, joined by people from across the globe, gathered at that sacred spot for the 2025 International Rally + March on Washington for Freedom. At this perilous and pivotal time in American queer history, we declared collectively that “we will not be erased” and that we will never stop dreaming of a better future and doing everything in our power to bring it about.
The previous day, the LGBTIQ+ community had celebrated exuberantly in our own unique and inimitable style. Hundreds of thousands of people marched and thronged the streets in a gloriously celebratory Pride parade, originating in one of Washington’s heavily LGBTIQ+ neighborhoods, snaking through D.C., then down Pennsylvania Avenue to a festival near the Capitol. The mood was unmistakably joyful, one of the most upbeat queer events in which we have ever participated. Every person who marched was cheered enthusiastically by the crowds. With all that we have been subjected to since January 20, we needed to be together and to affirm, applaud, and celebrate each other. And that’s exactly what we did.
It is what we need to continue to do, as we endure, resist, persist, and indeed advance the LGBTIQ+ movement in the face of the Trump administration and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Ten days after WorldPride, the conservative Republican super-majority of the U.S. Supreme Court issued an appallingly ignorant and callous ruling upholding states’ ability to deny trans and gender nonbinary youth access to vital gender affirming health care. The decision permits states to impose gross sex stereotypes regarding gender on teens and upheld rigid definitions of sex at odds with scientific understanding and reality.
In a stinging dissent joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused the majority of doing “irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause” and “authoriz[ing] without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them.”
Sotomayor outlined how untreated “gender dysphoria can lead to severe anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicidality.” As such, “the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry all agree that hormones and puberty blockers are ‘appropriate and medically necessary’ to treat gender dysphoria when clinically indicated.”
Sadly, the majority’s decision allows states to ban this critical care for trans youth, even when they, their parents, and their medical providers agree that it is needed. Further, the decision to a substantial degree legitimizes cynical transphobic legislation that has swept through Republican-dominated states in recent years and exploits trans youth for raw political gain. As Sotomayor pointedly put it: “the court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.”
It is imperative for all of us to stand up together unequivocally for trans rights. A central theme of speaker after speaker at the Lincoln Memorial WorldPride rally was the necessity of uniting and standing together for each and every one of us, without exception, regardless of their relative position within society. One speaker proclaimed: “Black, brown, white”—we must not “think that anyone is disposable.” Collective support for trans people was the most pressing and pervasive message of the march, embraced by all who attended. One sign urged forthrightly: “Stop the Worldwide Assault on TRANS People.” Another instructed: “LIVE beyond the BINARY.” Another stated the simple truth: “Trans is Beautiful.”
Just as WorldPride embodied protest and celebration, this June also is a time to celebrate a monumental victory for the LGBTIQ+ community: the ten-year anniversary of full nationwide marriage equality. We take pride that hundreds of thousands of queer couples are now married and possess the highest state recognition for their loving relationships, along with the same 1,500-plus rights, responsibilities, and protections under law that other couples have. All Americans, including queer people, have a fundamental right to marry, regardless of who they are or whom they love. Ten years ago, the Court proclaimed in its landmark Obergefell decision that the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples “equal dignity in the eyes of the law” through marriage equality.
Despite the recent adverse ruling regarding trans rights, the 2015 Supreme Court marriage equality victory remains a truly remarkable accomplishment for our community, representing the product of decades of tireless efforts by countless queer people and our supporters and building upon earlier generations’ fearless fighting for our collective rights. By celebrating this achievement, we strengthen our resolve to defend it against those who might try to undermine it, continue to show our love and humanity to the world, and advance the broader LGBTIQ+ movement further.
A speaker at the WorldPride rally observed how “it is often said that strength is the ability to stand on your own, but the greatest strength is to be able to rely on each other.”
A rallygoer, sporting a Keith Haring shirt with figures together holding up a pink heart, carried a sign proclaiming, “We the People MEANS EVERYONE!” A vibrant young woman proudly displayed her own homemade sign that declared: “The Power of The People is STRONGER Than the People in Power – KEEP GOING!!” We agree wholeheartedly. Happy Pride 2025!
John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney, together for over three decades, were plaintiffs in the California case for equal marriage rights decided by the California Supreme Court in 2008. Their leadership in the grassroots organization Marriage Equality USA contributed in 2015 to making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
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