The struggle to establish civil rights protections for transgendered people cannot be separated from the struggle to win freedom and equality for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people.

• Many transgendered people are gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

• Many gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are also transgender.

• Trans people have always been present in the GLB community. Drag and butch/femme culture, as well as androgyny and gender-bending are hallmarks of transgender influence.

• Lesbian, gay and bisexual people frequently challenge gender boundaries in their social (in addition to sexual) behavior, and are often victims of hate crimes because of their gender presentation.

Despite these strong connections, there are also historically based reasons for misunderstanding and mistrust between gay and transgendered people.