Within LGBTQ+ culture, this distinction is vital. A transgender person can be gay, straight, bisexual, or asexual. By including the transgender community, the LGBTQ+ movement acknowledges that liberation requires dismantling both "heteronormativity" (the assumption that everyone is straight) and "cisnormativity" (the assumption that everyone identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth). Cultural Contributions and Language

This painful dynamic—where the transgender community is used for its revolutionary ferocity but excluded from leadership—has been a recurring wound within LGBTQ culture. And yet, the transgender community persisted, becoming the conscience of the queer movement.