Two prominent US transgender rights organizations announce merger

Two prominent transgender rights organizations are merging, they announced in press releases on Wednesday.

The two organizations, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), said they expect their merger to be finalized by this summer. They will form a new organization named Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE).

“With double the resources, expertise, and fearless commitment to justice, we will be a powerful national organization to lead the next chapter of the transgender rights movement,” Andrea Hong Marra, executive director of TLDEF, said in a statement.

“Advocates for Trans Equality will show exactly what can be materially achieved when trans advocates come together and seek nothing less than equality for trans people in America.”

The merger comes at a time of increasing attacks on LGBTQ rights coming from the political right.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), state legislatures have introduced more than 275 bills aimed at LGBTQ rights for 2024 sessions, following more than 500 related bills last year. Gender-affirming care for young people and adults and transgender student-athletes are among the issues being targeted by the legislation.

“NCTE and TLDEF already have a long history of partnering to fight for the legal rights and protection of transgender people,” Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of NCTE, said in a statement. 

“Even though we’ve achieved many victories over that time, it feels like it was just a warm-up for the journey ahead,” he continued. “With a record number of attacks on trans people and trans rights, now is the time to unite and use our combined power and influence to advance trans equality in bigger and bolder ways than our organizations could alone.”