February Co-Chair Letter

The NTBA is mourning the loss of Cecilia Gentili. She was a bedrock part of our community and has led many of us to enhance our trans rights work. She was a star, and we are all better for having basked in her glow.

LETTER FROM THE CO-CHAIRS

To our NTBA community,

And 2024 is fully here. Last year we asked: “Will the tide of anti-trans political activity recede in 2024?” Thankfully, we vowed that “[r]egardless of what happens, we will continue on with the support of our community.” The tide has not turned. Things are worse than they were last year. Utah is banning trans people from using restrooms. Florida has issued guidance making changing one’s gender on one’s state identification fraud.

2024 may well be relentlessly ugly. But this community has weathered storms like these before.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that. You probably already know of other laws or administrative actions passed or proposed in 2024. Some may have come to be in the time between this writing and its publication.

Perhaps more important, however, if you’re reading this, you have your own internal strength. You’ve made it this far and you’ve found your way into the legal professions. You are strong.

You’re also not responsible for fixing all of this. You are one member of a legal profession – the profession bears the responsibility for fixing this. You have the capacity to fix some things; to help some people. Do that. Do what you can.

Limit how much of this toxicity you consume – if you need to monitor these events. Set aside a time to do so and brace yourself for it. And then put it all back down. Go outside. Get some fresh air.

And come to the Trans Law Institute in Washington D.C., if you can. The Trans Law Institute will be taking place during the last day of Lavender Law on August 9, 2024. We will stand together, learn together, plan together, and breathe together. And find community locally – whether you can make it to D.C. or not.

Reach out – we’d be happy to help connect you either through our mentoring or social committees.

We will continue to speak out this year. The work continues. At the end of this month, on February 29, multiple NTBA board members will be participating in a panel to further promote the Non-Binary Resource Guide. We will publish details soon.

And our community continues to grow in various ways. We are presently interviewing additional board members and look forward to announcing new board members soon!

We are also planning multiple mentoring and social events this year. We are gratefully working to help local organizations – both community and law school based – put on additional events. We will continue to find new ways to support the community and be here for you all. We will do 2024 and we will survive it just like we did 2023 and 2022 before that.

In Solidarity,

Rafael and D, your NTBA Co-Chairs