Two national transgender rights groups are on track to merge later this year to create a new organization called Advocates for Trans Equality, according to a news release.
Andy Marra, a trans woman who is the executive director of the New York City-based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, a gay Latino trans man who is the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Transgender Equality, will be CEO and executive director of the new organization, respectively.
Heng-Lehtinen told the Bay Area Reporter last week that the groups should be merging by summer. Advocates for Trans Equality will have offices in both D.C. and New York City, and the combined budget is expected to be “about $8 million,” Heng-Lehtinen stated.
“We officially filed all the papers with the state of New York and it’s just a matter of bureaucratic processing time,” Heng-Lehtinen said, though he later added legally it will be incorporated in the District of Columbia. “Andy, as CEO, will handle the money and me, as executive director, will handle the movement. The CEO will be donor-facing and will oversee the fundraising and the back-of-the-house things — all those nuts and bolts that keep an organization running. I’ll oversee what people tend to think of when they think of our organization — the community organizing, public education, LGBTQ movement-facing and moving the hearts and minds of the public. So that’s how we’re going to divide the work to spread the load and make sure all aspects of the work get the attention they need.”
Heng-Lehtinen said that the reason for the merger is “really simply to build power for our community.”
“Both of our organizations do really effective work and both of us were growing — which is a positive thing — but our opposition is moving faster than the trans movement ourselves,” he said.
“We’re up against a tsunami of anti-trans attacks, as evidenced by over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills in state legislatures. It’s astounding how quickly that has escalated,” Heng-Lehtinen added.
The merger will “get us to a whole other level overnight so we are twice as big, have twice the ferocity, twice the influence,” Heng-Lehtinen said.
The organizations’ most recent publicly available IRS 990 forms show in 2022 the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund took in $2.9 million and spent $2.7 million. Marra made $216,911 in regular compensation and $23,988 in other compensation. The National Center for Transgender Equality took in $4.3 million and spent $3.4 million. Heng-Lehtinen made $182,679 in regular compensation and $13,065 in other compensation.
Marra made a similar statement as to the reason for the merger.
“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,” Marra stated in the release. “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.”
Marra has been in his role for about five years and Heng-Lehtinen for about two and a half, he said. Heng-Lehtinen took over NCTE after Mara Keisling, its founder and first executive director, stepped down in 2021. He had previously worked as deputy executive director there. Heng-Lehtinen’s mother is former Congressmember Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), the first Cuban American and Latina woman elected to Congress. In 2012, she was the first House Republican to support same-sex marriage.
At the top of the groups’ agenda this election year is fighting anti-trans proposals and initiatives, such as one that is currently gathering signatures in California and could be on the November ballot, as the B.A.R. previously reported. The initiative would require public schools to report to parents any change in a student’s expressed gender identity, without an exception for the student’s safety; require trans students to participate in school activities and use bathrooms consistent with their assigned sex at birth; and ban gender-affirming care for minors.
“They are gathering signatures — this is a perfect example of the rising trans attacks for even a place perceived as relatively safe,” Heng-Lehtinen said. “We stand ready to help as much as groups on the ground need us.”
Heng-Lehtinen has been in touch with Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ rights group, on the issue, he said.
“They have not asked us to do a particular thing yet, but are keeping us in the loop about it, and we’re happy to help,” Heng-Lehtinen said. “We have always been in touch with them, including about the merger. They sent their congratulations, which is really sweet.”
EQCA Executive Director Tony Hoang, a gay man, told the B.A.R., “It’s crucial to have transgender voices and organizations taking the lead on battling the many attacks against the transgender community.”
“This merger marks a pivotal stride towards fighting anti-trans extremists who continue to target the most vulnerable in the LGBTQ+ community,” Hoang continued. “Strength in numbers and collaboration is imperative, and we look forward to working together to ensure all rights are upheld to achieve full lived equality.”
Heng-Lehtinen said the organizations can work in the political process because there are both 501(c) 3 and 501(c) 4 affiliations as part of the merger. The latter can engage in lobbying and other activities.
The new group will also work to help reelect President Joe Biden, and to elect trans representatives to statehouses nationwide.
“We have officially endorsed President Biden — the most pro-trans president we’ve ever had,” Heng-Lehtinen said, referring to the NCTE Action Fund, the lobbying arm of the organization. “We wholeheartedly endorse President Biden and are launching a coalition, Transform The Vote, to help trans people get to the ballot and deal with voter ID laws.”
Shelby Chestnut, the executive director of Transgender Law Center, sent their praise for the merger.
“Now, more than ever, we need trans voices and organizations leading on the issues that impact the trans community,” Chestnut stated in the release. “In the face of discrimination and injustice, the trans community needs the strength that this historic merger will create. It is an essential step to achieving equality for all. This moment represents the future of the LGBTQI+ movement’s work, with powerful trans leaders at the forefront.”
