Yesterday, we wrote about the effects of the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the guidance issued last year on the use of gender-segregated bathroom and facilities in schools, and what it will mean for trans students. (Tl;dr = it is not good, at all.) Plenty of celebrities have spoken out against the decision — Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace told Rolling Stone that “it’s kind of predictable and seems so transparent that this is an administration that doesn’t fucking care about transgender people,” and various others have followed suit over the last few days. However, the issue got a significant boost in terms of profile yesterday when Beyoncé posted a message to her Facebook page about it:
It’s easy to mock and sneer at celebrity clicktivism, but the power of these sorts of statements can’t be underestimated — Beyoncé’s page has 64,545,208 likes (more than Flavorwire, even!), and this post alone has some 35,000 likes and nearly 3,000 shares. That is, to put it mildly, a lot of people, and it’s heartening to see that many people actively supporting trans rights. She also suggests that people donate to GLSEN (one of the organizations we included in our post yesterday, incidentally), which is the sort of of shout-out that can make a world of difference to fundraising campaigns. We haven’t always been great fans of Beyoncé at Flavorwire, but this is a really lovely and important gesture, and one that should be applauded heartily.
