: Legal protections vary wildly by jurisdiction; in many places, transgender people lack protection against discrimination in housing, healthcare, and the workplace.
The trans community has given LGBTQ culture a refined vocabulary for discussing identity beyond sexuality: terms like non-binary, genderqueer, agender, and gender expansive have forced the entire LGBTQ spectrum to think more critically about what "identity" really means.
The modern LGBTQ rights movement was sparked, in large part, by transgender and gender-nonconforming people. The 1969 Stonewall Uprising—often cited as the birth of the contemporary gay rights movement—was led by trans women of color like and Sylvia Rivera . These activists fought back against police brutality in New York City, not just for gay rights, but for the right to exist in public space as visibly gender-nonconforming people.