Know Your Rights: Transgender Rights

The following information is produced by the ACLU of Oregon for educational purposes only. This is not intended to be and is not a substitute for legal advice.

Oregon has a number of legal protections for trans, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and intersex people, and those laws remain unchanged.

Generally, you have the right not to be discriminated against based on your gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation in many areas of life — including healthcare, schools, work, social services, and public spaces (such as restaurants, hotels, and shops).

Explore the buttons and links below for key rights, information, and resources to know about and share with your communities.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS IN OREGON

GENERAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Rights in Oregon

From experts at Basic Rights Oregon

a photo of the Oregon Capitol building shaded in blue

We strongly encourage you to follow the work of our partner, Basic Rights Oregon. BRO is one of the longest-standing LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations in the state, and has the most up-to-date information and resources for queer and trans communities.

Resources:

Basic Rights Oregon’s Resource Page

Basic Rights Oregon’s Know Your Rights

Basic Rights Oregon’s weekly newsletter updates

Executive Orders

What are Executive Orders and what do they do? How do they impact trans, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people?

a photo of the White House, shaded in pink.

ACLU:

What is an executive order and what does it do?

LISTEN: At Liberty Podcast: Know Your LGBTQ+ Rights with Chase Strangio

ACLU Hawaii: Transgender Rights in Hawaii
(Learn about what Executive Orders can and cannot do, and their impact on transgender rights.)

Other resources:

LISTEN: Intersectionality Matters! Podcast, Episode 66, Executive Disorder
(Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.)

GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD): Making Sense of the Trump Administration’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Orders

For allies

How can we all best support trans+ people at this time?

A group of young people of diverse backgrounds smiling

We need people to speak up. Contact your elected officials in Congress and at the state and local level and demand they push back against the Trump administration’s anti-trans agenda. Let your representatives and senators know that you expect them to stand up and oppose these attacks and that you will hold them accountable if they fail to do so. States and cities should be making clear that trans people belong and still have legal protections, and states should resist cooperating with this administration’s anti-trans agenda.

Because this anti-trans agenda is fueled by lies and misinformation about trans people, everyone has a role to play in educating the people in their lives about the facts. Speak up and out for trans people wherever you encounter the harmful messaging used by the Trump administration that treats trans people as a threat just for existing.

Most importantly, we can show up for each other and take care of one another. The government can’t erase people’s identities.

Trans, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and intersex folks have always been here, and are here to stay.