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8 Trans & Nonbinary Artists Get Real on the Fight for Trans Rights in 2025: ‘Try to Give a F–k’

For International Transgender Day of Visibility, Billboard spoke with Sasha Colby, Dua Saleh and other artists about the fight for trans rights.

In a flurry of executive orders — someofwhich have since been shut down or paused by federal judges for their lack of constitutional merit — the president openly attacked trans and nonbinary people’s access to healthcare, anti-discrimination protections, public facilities, sporting activities, military service and more. For the Gworls: A Black, trans-led mutual aid fund hosting regular events to “fundraise money to help Black transgender people pay for their rent, gender-affirming surgeries, smaller co-pays for medicines/doctor’s visits, and travel assistance.” The Sylvia Rivera Law Project: A trans-led legal aid organization providing legal services and trainings to the transgender, nonbinary and intersex communities in order to ensure all are “free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence.” The Trevor Project: A leading nonprofit organization providing 24-hour crisis hotlines to LGBTQ+ youth, conduct vital research on the lived realities of queer and trans youth and publicly advocate for policies supporting the LGBTQ+ community, with the stated goal to “end suicide among LGBTQ+ young people.” Lambda Legal: A civil rights organization focused on pursuing litigation on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and policymaking at “every level of government” to help advocate for the community. However, it does come with its own unique set of challenges, as over the span of those five years, I, along with many of my other trans siblings in the music industry, have received a litany of death threats and otherwise invalidating and dehumanizing comments in regards to the validity of our identities.

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