April 23, 2025 |LGBTQ+, News, Non-profits

Rainbow Pride Coalition Releases Letter to Transgender Community

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This letter is the collective effort on the part of the “Rainbow Pride Coalition”, a Coalition of various Pride organizations and entities on The North Shore and Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts who met on February, 25, 2025. Some of us are transgender and some of us are cisgender.

We write this letter as a group of people who love, are friends with, work alongside, and are partners and lovers with transgender people. We know from personal experiences that transgender people are loveable and desirable in all the ways that a person can be loved and desired. There are not enough stories of these friendships, partnerships, and other relationships, and so it can be hard to know that it’s possible. We want you to know that this is possible.

To all of our friends and family in the transgender community, we firmly believe that transgender people are valid and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

We care about you, whoever you are.
We care about you, no matter what gender you identify with.
We care about you, even if the only place you’re out is in the mirror.

As anti-trans bills continue to be introduced across the country to block transgender people from receiving basic human rights including healthcare, education, legal recognition, and ultimately the right to exist, we want you to know that we see you and promise to stand by your side during this difficult and trying time. We urge everyone to listen to the experiences of transgender people, challenge discriminatory attitudes, and advocate for their rights.

As a group, we came up with this list of skills and strategies, in case you find yourself facing rejection or isolation:

• Remember that you can make your own family, you may share your experiences when defining family in creative and preferred ways.
• There is no obligation to keep in contact with people who do not accept you.
• It can help to find a community of people who have shared similar experiences and when possible form a support network.
• Community can be found anywhere, in-person or online. Finding community online can be especially helpful if you, like many of us, experience anxiety or are in a more rural location.
• Take care of yourself. Carve out time to rest and recover. Prioritize nurturing your mind, body, and soul in whatever way you can. You deserve love, and sometimes the best love comes from within yourself.

Finally, even if you ’re feeling completely alone, here on the North Shore we know you are complete, and worthy of love. You don’t have to feel complete, and we have no expectations of you. Our hopes for you, and our acceptance of you, does not require that you also feel hope or acceptance. No matter where you are in your journey, and no matter how you feel about yourself, we support you.

With so much warmth and respect, The Rainbow Pride Coalition of 2025

• United Lynn Pride
• Beverly Human Rights Committee
• Cape Ann Pride Coalition
• Hamilton-Wenham Human Rights Coalition
• Haverhill Pride
• Lynnfield Pride
• Marblehead Pride
• Merrimack Valley
• NAGLY
• Newburyport Pride
• NorthShore LGBT Social Network
• NorthShore LGBTQ Network
• North Shore Pride
• Tri-Town Human Rights Coalition

The above information was submitted to us by United Lynn Pride.