At a special February 28, 2025 meeting, the American Ethical Union Board of Directors voted to add the AEU’s signature to a coalition statement organized by American Atheists reiterating our commitment to advocacy around LGBTQ+ issues, particularly those affecting trans people, and fostering an inclusive community that respects the dignity of LGBTQ+ people.

Statement from American Atheist, Humanist, Freethought, and Secular Groups Affirming Commitment to Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights

As the 119th Congress and state legislative sessions begin across the nation—and the incoming Trump-Vance Administration prepares to take office on January 20—the extreme White Christian Nationalist movement and their politician enablers have made it clear that LGBTQ+ Americans, particularly trans people, will be singled out for discrimination, exclusion, and attacks in 2025. Indeed, this dangerous movement has made anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies a cornerstone of their agenda.

As organizations committed to protecting the separation of government and religion, as well as universal human and civil rights threatened by the White Christian Nationalist ideology, the undersigned organizations reaffirm our commitment to forcefully advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, create inclusive and welcoming communities, represent the interests of our diverse constituents, and act in accordance with our values.

We will not permit religious extremists to foment a moral panic, encourage harassment or violence, and enact dangerous policies that seek to force LGBTQ+ Americans generally—and trans Americans in particular—out of public life and out of existence. Nor will we sit silently or ignore when the talking points, misinformation, and outright fabrications of anti-LGBTQ+ extremists are laundered and given a veneer of legitimacy or acceptability by those who hold themselves out as voices of reason or science.

In just the past year, we have seen book bans forcing libraries and schools to remove materials that even mention LGBTQ+ characters; bathroom bans and “bounty” laws that threaten harassing lawsuits or even criminal prosecution against trans Americans simply for using the restroom; religious refusal laws allowing medical providers to deny treatment; outright bans on a range of medical care for gender dysphoria, substituting the judgement of state governments for that of patients, parents, and physicians; and even investigations threatening to remove trans and gender non-conforming children from their families. More of the same is coming in 2025.

For the more than 1.5 million trans Americans, this is the reality they are forced to live every day. It is not merely some academic debate.

These unworkable, ill-conceived, and plainly discriminatory laws and policies are about one thing: forcing a regressive, largely religious view of gender norms onto the American people. They are “solutions” in search of a problem that simply doesn’t exist. Instead, the extremists advocating for these actions intend to send a clear message that trans Americans are not worthy of dignity or respect—and their cruel and dehumanizing rhetoric only confirms that intention. We cannot and will not ignore such bigotry, no matter its source.

Instead, we stand with our trans members, supporters, and constituents. We will continue to advocate for policies that protect the civil and human rights of every community that comes under threat from the White Christian Nationalist ideology. And we will ensure that the inherent dignity and worth of all people is respected within our community and beyond.

American Atheists
Nick Fish
President

American Ethical Union
Khandra Sears
President

American Humanist Association
Fish Stark
Executive Director

Association of Secular Elected Officials
Leonard Presberg
President

Black Nonbelievers
Mandisa Thomas
President

Camp Quest
Alyssa Fuller
Executive Director

The Clergy Project
Duane Grady
President

Freedom From Religion Foundation
Dan Barker & Annie Laurie Gaylor
Co-Presidents

Freethought Society
Margaret Downey
President

Hispanic American Freethinkers
David Tamayo
President

Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers
Jason Torpy
President

Recovering From Religion
Gayle Jordan
Executive Director

Secular Student Alliance
Kevin Bolling
Executive Director

Secular Coalition for America
Steven Emmert
Executive Director

Secular Woman
Monette Richards
President

Society for Humanistic Judaism
Paul Golin
Executive Director

Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association
Leika Lewis-Cornwell
President