We all have to start somewhere – most people are born wanting to be kind and compassionate, but it takes work to undo the underlying negativity we’re taught. Here are some basic concepts to read about, regardless of where you are in your allyship and social justice journey. Or go directly to the end of the page to see resources.

Glossary & Definitions

Common terms that will be used in this post – and are thrown around in the social justice sphere. Not many people take the time to explain them, so here are the definitions as I will be using them.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

The belief that ALL people deserve equal economic, political, and social rights/opportunities. In an ideal world, everyone has an equal chance to be happy, healthy, and grow. However, both in current society and throughout history, there is social injustice: certain people get extra opportunities while others get less based on things outside of their control, like race, gender, class, ability, etc.

The goal of social justice is to remedy injustice, often by helping those experiencing injustice or getting rid of the causes that create injustice.

OPPRESSION VS. MARGINALIZATION

Both oppression and marginalization are big words used interchangeably in the social justice sphere. Oppression refers to the unjust or cruel use of authority and/or power whereas marginalization is the unjust treatment of a person or group based on identity.

The technical difference between the two is that oppression is carried out by the powerful (like governments) while marginalization can be done by anyone – including you and me. For more, continue reading and look for the “types of oppression” section of this article.

ALLYSHIP & ALLIES

Allyship is the practice of actively working to create social justice and end social injustice, even when particular injustices do not directly affect you. Allyship is active because it is not a fad that one does in their free time – it’s ongoing and often tiring, a commitment to calling out yourself and others when you purposely or unknowingly benefit from injustice.

There are a lot of words that people will use to get this message across – advocates, supports, allies, and so forth. The general idea is that to practice social justice and be a compassionate human, you have to commit to the practice even when it is difficult. If allyship was easy, injustice would not exist. Allies are not perfect people who will never do wrong – they’re humans who generally aim to create a better society and are willing to work to make that society a reality.

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Identity Markers: Who am I?

To understand social justice and marginalization, you have to understand identity markers. Identity markers are parts of your identity or self – these markers are most commonly used to discriminate and harm people, but they also create community. They range from aspects like race and ethnicity to everyday hobbies.

Remember: everyone has identity markers. As an exercise, I invite you to take a moment and think about which identities matter the most to you, and which matter less. For example, everyone has a racial identity, but how important is race to you? It is more or less important than your identity related to sexuality, gender, religion, or even your hobbies? There are no right or wrong answers, but understanding identity markers is an integral starting point since the majority of people never critically think about their identities. Those identities shape how you see the world – like if you think the world is fundamentally fair or if it’s warped by greed and cruelty.

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The Five Fundamentals of Social Justice

When teaching social justice, I always emphasize five fundamental principles: human rights, resources, equity, participation, and diversity. I’ll be going over all of them later, but note that all five of these fundamentals are equally important. There’s no single principle that is more important than the others. Pursuing social justice means you are actively pursuing all five of these principles – if you don’t, you’ll create injustice later on.

Let’s Begin: Human Rights

Human rights are basic fundamental rights that every single person is entitled to solely because they are a person – regardless of where they’re from, the color of their skin, sexual orientation, gender identity, wealth, past crimes, ability to speak English, or anything else.

These are rights that do not need to be earned and cannot be lost – you were born entitled to these rights. Most of the world followed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a document with 30 fundamental rights written in 1948 in response to WWII. It’s the most translated document in the world and available in over 500 different languages as well as a comic format and easy-to-understand simplified version. The UDHR isn’t comprehensive, but it outlines 30 basic principles that the majority of the world has agreed are integral to being human. Before it, the world didn’t have a consensus before the Holocaust that all people deserve a certain level of rights.

_{It’s also worth mentioning that the UDHR is a document through the United Nations. The UN does have power, but that power isn’t absolute since it cannot physically force countries like Russia, North Korea, or Iran to stop committing human rights violations. Instead, they offer guidance – like whether certain countries should be assisted in times of need, if trade should be barred, and they keep detailed documentation and accountability on world powers.}

Making Change: Participation

In social justice, participation refers to whether everyone has access to voice their opinions/concerns AND if they can create genuine change. There are places in the world where people are denied the right to vote or be in public forums and town halls, and there are other places where their votes are meaningless and don’t create actual policy reform.

An example of the first type of participation injustice revolves around the United States territory of Puerto Rico, which is home to over three million people in the Caribbean. Like all US territories, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections and have no federal representation in Congress – even though they’re considered United States citizens by birthright. Their tax dollars go towards federal legislation and projects, but they’ve been denied to become the 51st state despite voting in favor during referendums in 2024, 2020, 2017, and 2012. It has a similar vibe to the same reasons the United States originally went to war for its independence from the United Kingdom, but Puerto Rico’s residents are denied the ability to voice themselves.

An example of the second type of participation injustice is federal legislation passed and vetoed here in the United States. For the majority of real democracies, bills have a greater chance to become law if a greater number of voters favor that bill – and vice versa for unfavorable bills the general public dislikes. However, all bills discussed in Congress have a 30% chance of becoming law – regardless of whether Americans love or hate that bill. The average American has “a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact” on laws. Instead, bills become laws in Congress based on the favorability of the United States’ upper classes – which is why even though the average American supports more accessible or universal healthcare, abortion protection, and same-sex marriage, Congress refuses to support those interests. The American public doesn’t support the idea of a national ban on TikTok, but large corporations like Meta fuel bills in Washington D.C do.

Stuff! Also known as… Resources.

Resources are the things we need to have happy, healthy lives BUT can run out because they’re finite. In my opinion, the simplest definition of resources is “stuff.” In a just society, everyone has equal resources regardless of who they are: every person has clean water, healthy food options, healthcare, housing, etc. Many countries have welfare programs and policies to disperse resources and discourage hoarding – like universal healthcare, free childcare, minimum wage, higher education, pensions, and income supplements.

In unjust societies, resources are hoarded and kept by a small number of people – often called the elite, upper class, or Top 10%. Those resources then become inaccessible to the general public, especially those in poverty. The two most common examples of resource injustice in the United States relate to housing and medicine – wealthy individuals and corporations purchase massive amounts of housing across the nation with the intent of renting out those properties or selling them at a higher price. The US doesn’t have a “housing shortage” because the houses don’t exist, the US has a shortage because houses are being hoarded by a small number of people intentionally raising prices as high as possible. On the other hand, medication can only be produced by licensed entities – and most medications in the United States are protected by corporation-owned patents. These companies have the power and authority to price medication at any price with the understanding that if a product is life-saving, then Americans will pay any price to not die.

Equity, Not Equality

Both equality and equity are important – but the difference can be hard to grasp. We want equality, but we have to use equity to get there. Over the centuries, some groups of people have had more access to resources and freedoms than others, so they have built up wealth (aka generational wealth). To get society back on track and create a socially just world, we have to implement short-term equity to bring those without wealth to the same standard as the wealthy.

A real-world historical example of this is the wealth gap between Black and white families in the United States. As a general rule, white families have had over two hundred years to buy land, build businesses, and grow their families’ wealth – which has afforded them university degrees, political offices, and access to the stock market. I say general rule because this is a large generalization – there are millions of white Americans living in poverty, and not all white families can trace their roots to the birth of the US. On the other hand, Black families were not just kept in poverty but enslaved from birth until death – and the cycle continued with practices like predatory sharecropping that kept Black families in debt to their white landlords post-Civil War. In comparison, Black Americans have lacked the same opportunities to build their own generational wealth through buying land, creating businesses, going to university, etc.

Equality is great when talking about rights – everyone deserves the same treatment. It’s also great when we talk about the ideal society, where everyone has the same opportunities. It’s not great when talking about resources since things are already unequal due to history. In short, equality is giving all people the same exact resources and freedoms regardless of need while equity distributes resources and services based on need and circumstance. Resources are finite, so we have to ensure things go to those who need them most.

As an exercise, imagine Congress has approved a bill that aims to bring United States public schools technologically up-to-date with new Chromebooks for students to use while in class – since there’s only so much money approved by the bill, we have to decide the best way to divide up the funds and computers across the US. If we applied an equality-based outlook, every single public school in America would be given the same number of Chromebooks. The pro to this method is that it’s the fairest since it’s based on equality, but it’s not efficient at solving the problem: due to the American education system, there’s a LARGE gap in the quality and funding schools in rich suburban neighborhoods receive compared to schools in poor rural or urban neighborhoods. This method will give new computers to wealthy schools that already have resources and not enough computers to poor schools that are lacking. Yet, imagine if we went with an equitable approach and the Chromebooks were instead given to public schools based on need – wealthy schools would get significantly less due to their lack of need, while the gaps would be filled by supplying more computers to poorly funded schools. The equitable outlook has a greater positive effect and brings the education system closer to pursuing equality in the future by closing the gap.

You can apply this mentality with a lot of things – it’s how welfare is operated throughout most of the world, including the United States. S.N.A.P. (food assistance or food stamps) aren’t given to every single American – that would cost way too much money than the system can handle currently – so instead, it’s given to Americans based on income-related need. Government healthcare and Medicaid, disability and social security, Pell Grants for higher education, housing assistance programs, tax credits, and cash assistance are all operated based on equitable need.

Diversity is good, actually.

For a just society, we have to actively hear opinions from backgrounds different than our own. This includes different racial, religious, economic, sexual, and even political backgrounds. If a group of powerful people is lacking in diversity, you should ask why others are unable to participate.

Echo chambers harm everyone, and we all benefit from listening to alternative perspectives. By adding diversity, you’re able to develop and defend your own ideas. Ideas that don’t have room to be challenged are always faulty beliefs. Accidents and public scandals happen when diversity isn’t present – like when Amazon served its staff watermelon and Kool-Aid for Juneteenth or when your local store puts Chinese New Year merchandise for sale in preparation for January 1st. When power is diversified, those scandals and errors are able to be corrected before they make large-scale impact. That being said, it’s easy to ignore diversity in favor of filling positions with just anyone – and due to the history of inequality, “just anyone” tends to be cisgender, straight, white, Christian, and able-bodied in the United States.

It’s not a vacuum – social justice is connected!

Next, think about the following statement: “In 2020, 86% of CEOs in America were white cisgender straight men.” Why?

Let’s take the five principles of social justice and dissect this:

• DIVERSITY. There is a lack of women, transgender people, queer people, and people of color in positions of power. Since most boards and high-level corporations are run by white cisgender straight men, they unconsciously make decisions that benefit people like them rather than others – like donating to organizations to end DEI or giving staff little maternity leave.
• PARTICIPATION. As mentioned in the participation section, the wealthy have the largest effect on US laws – which includes CEOs. In comparison to the average American, CEOs get to participate in creating change more than anyone else – which influences the real laws that pass in Congress.
• EQUITY. To be a CEO, you almost always have to have a high-level degree – which is something that other people don’t have equitable access to if they’re unlucky enough to be stuck in an underfunded school district without paths towards accessible higher education.
• HUMAN RIGHTS. The wealthy don’t have to worry about access to basic things like healthcare, education, shelter, and food – the types of human rights that are not guaranteed in America, largely due to corporate lobbying. Rather than budget and worry about these needs, they can focus on higher education and career advancement.
• RESOURCES. The university degrees and connections necessary to become a CEO require a lot of time and money – which white cisgender straight men have significantly more of on average than other groups. Time spent on studying and going to networking events doesn’t have to be spent on taking a second job to pay rent.

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Make Your Allyship Active

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Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Unconscious Bias

Believe it or not, stereotypes are generalized beliefs that try to keep us safe – we make broad assumptions based on previous experiences and information. Stereotypes are useful when we assume a brightly colored frog will probably be poisonous, that green bananas are not as sweet and tasty as non-green ones, or that a growling bear might maul us. And throughout evolution and history, stereotypes informed us that we should stick to people like ourselves since other groups within the Homo genus were less likely to take care of our needs and well-being.

Stereotypes become negative and unhelpful when applied to modern humans – which is when they warp into prejudice. An English woman in the Middle Ages might have held the stereotype that French people were aggressive and dangerous, fueled by the information told to her through the countless wars between England and France – and that stereotype likely kept her family safe and away from war during her lifetime. Today, that stereotype is counterproductive in a time of intercultural dialogue and diplomacy over violence. Instead, stereotypes influence us to think worse of people based on identity markers – like being Black, Asian, Latine, Indigenous, queer, transgender, disabled, female, or poor.

Unconscious bias is another term for implicit stereotypes, beliefs we fundamentally hold in our inner psyche despite knowing better. They’re ingrained from growing up in an unjust world, and we’re gradually taught these biases through our parents, extended family, friends, schools, religious mentors, coaches, bosses, colleagues, and communities. They’re unconscious because you rarely think about them and they’re as irrational and poorly formed as most of the unconscious self. It doesn’t even matter if you’re directly affected by a certain bias or stereotype – Black Americans commonly hold anti-Black unconscious biases, even if they’re counterproductive, and the same can be said for other marginalized groups.

If you’re curious about learning more about your own unconscious biases, Project Implicit is an international collective through Harvard University that lets you test for a variety of biases for free – like homophobia, Islamophobia, ableism, racism, sexism, transphobia, ageism, etc.

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Three Types of Oppression: Oh My!

Oppression, or the unjust use of power, manifests in at least one of three ways: institutionally, culturally, or individually. Like the five fundamentals of social justice, no singular type of oppression is superior – they feed into one another, and all three must be combated if you want your allyship to make real change.

Individual Oppression

If an -ism (ex. racism, ableism, heterosexism.) is on a one-on-one level, it’s likely individual oppression – this is the type of oppression and discrimination that anyone can do regardless of identity, privilege, or power. Individual oppression is defined as the personal feelings, assumptions, actions, and behaviors any one person has/does toward others.

COMMON EXAMPLES OF INDIVIDUAL OPPRESSION:

• Misgendering and/or deadnaming
• Telling a sexist joke
• Calling someone a slur or otherwise derogatory term
• Crossing the street to avoid being near a person of color
• Physically harming another person

Real-World Example of Individual Oppression
While walking home with their groceries, queer couple Destiny and Addison are holding hands in public. A furious man storms up to them, calls them d*kes, and shoves them to the ground before he’s pulled away by bystanders.

The above example checks all the boxes for individual oppression – it’s a very localized example of one person acting out towards two other individuals based on his personal prejudices – and he doesn’t appear to have any remarkable power or authority.

Institutional Oppression

Also known as systemic oppression, institutional oppression is the type of cruelty most people envision when they discuss the injustices of the world. Institutional oppression is the laws, policies, and practices placed upon us by “institutions,” or groups, organizations, or people with immense power.

“Groups, organizations, and people with immense power” is vague – but it purposely includes a lot of people. Institutional oppression is carried out by political figures like members of Congress and the Supreme Court, but also local school boards, lobbying groups, and corporations. On the world stage, institutional oppression is a president or high-level official making cruel decisions on a whim – but systemic oppression looks different on the local level. In our everyday lives and communities, institutional oppression often masks itself in bureaucracy and red tape – but it’s easier to spot once you start asking why such barriers exist.

COMMON EXAMPLES OF INSTITUTIONAL OPPRESSION:

• Laws prohibiting abortion or same-sex marriage
• Businesses refusing to interview or hire Black names
• Insurance companies requiring certain high-level diagnoses for hormone replacement therapy
• Banks that refuse to give loans or mortgages to low-income households
• Glass ceilings where minorities are barred from promotion

Real-World Example of Institutional Oppression
Corporation™ makes an official policy that all transgender staff must use the restroom as their sex assigned at birth rather than the one that matches their gender identity while working.

This example could apply to a mega-business like Walmart or Amazon as well as a local store with only three employees – this is a classic example of institutional oppression because it’s a cruel policy being enforced by an entity with authority, such as a boss, business, board director, or corporation. Institutional oppression can be carried out by individual people, but it’s defined by the level of power someone has based on circumstance.

Cultural Oppression

Out of the three types of oppression, cultural oppression is the most difficult to grasp. It’s also referred to as structural oppression, and cultural oppression is the many -isms that influence our biases. Cultural oppression is the collection of beliefs from society about certain identities, such as people of color or LGBTQIA+ people. Most people are unable to directly contribute to cultural oppression – to do so, you have to have a good amount of power within public perception. Due to that, celebrities and the media have the most sway here – but it also includes religion and the stereotypes we hear from our families and communities growing up. Notice that cultural oppression tends to be in the middle compared to individual and institutional oppression: these figures have remarkably less power in creating laws, but they have power in influencing the way we think and feel.

COMMON EXAMPLES OF CULTURAL OPPRESSION:

• Gender roles that expect women to take family-centric roles and wear makeup
• Stereotypes that argue white neighborhoods are inherently safer than Black neighborhoods
• Movies that contain problematic themes, like blackface or vilify transgender people

Real-World Example of Cultural Oppression
The latest AAA video game makes record sales but contains anti-LGBTQIA+ themes where transgender people are shamed during a major quest line.

Both the video game itself and those who wrote and created the game are at fault for cultural oppression in this example. Its developers refused to alter the game’s transphobic themes – and each player that encounters the game will learn anti-LGBTQIA+ stereotypes from it, especially if they lack media literacy or critical thinking.

The Monster Known as Oppression

The most daunting aspect of social justice and learning about oppression is understanding how these three types of oppression feed themselves – it’s a cycle that benefits those in power to cause more cruelty. Religion uses cultural oppression to teach individuals in the public to demonize LGBTQIA+ people, whereas politicians are taught to cast out queer and trans people through cruel laws. Those laws and stereotypes teach everyday people that LGBTQIA+ people deserve this cruelty and discourage them from taking action. Or that as society teaches that whiteness is better than Blackness through racist biases, a popular online artist creates content that features whitewashing. As that content gets likes and shares, it influences individuals with racist undertones – and those individuals make up the stereotypes society has about Blackness.

“Every time a finger gets pointed at a person – whether they’re a Fortune 500 CEO or a high school student – we’re focusing on an -ist… Every campaign to “cancel” an -ist – whether successful or not – isn’t the same as addressing the system. It brings our attention away from the system and toward an individual within it.”

– “-isms, not -ists,” by It’s Pronounced Metrosexual/Sam Killermann

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What is Privilege?

Privilege is the result of society and institutions valuing certain bodies over others, giving them unearned advantages based on identity. Since privilege is based on identity, it’s entirely outside of your control – no one gets to choose being born Black, able-bodied, cisgender, or queer. By that logic, no one can be an inherently bad person because of privilege.

Privilege is defined by “unearned advantages” – having a certain privilege does not mean you’ve never had to struggle. Most people have struggles in their lives, and everyone has at least one or two privileges and non-privilege. Instead, privilege is the fact you have not been weighed down by additional baggage tied to one identity. The purpose of allyship is to use privilege when appropriate to call out injustice – no one wants to make people feel bad for existing. Social justice exists to create equal opportunities for everyone, not enforce white guilt.

“We highlight how systems inequitably distribute power to some while withholding it from others – based on who we are. We refer to people who are granted disproportionate power as ‘privileged,’ ‘majoritized,’ ‘centered,’ etc. And those from whom power is withheld as ‘oppressed,’ ‘minoritized,’ ‘marginalized,’ ect. Now, nobody is only one of those two. We’re both, depending on which situation we’re in, and what dimensions of ourselves are brought to the forefront.”

– “The Social Justice Power Inverse,” It’s Pronounced Metrosexual/Sam Killermann

Remember privilege is based on identity – someone might be marginalized because they’re Black, but privileged because they hold US citizenship by birth and identify as straight. There’s privilege based on disability, wealth, housing status, body size, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, citizenship, education level, race, ethnicity, religion, etc. If you’re still having difficulty understanding privilege, this comic does a great job illustrating it.

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The Theory of Intersectionality

Make sure you thoroughly understand identity markers before tackling intersectionality – it’s easy to get lost. When people traditionally talk about oppression, they do so in vacuums – like -isms happen separately from one another and aren’t connected. Intersectionality is the belief that oppressions are all connected and people can have very different experiences based on how their personal identities intersect. The word “intersectionality” comes from the idea of a traffic intersection as a metaphor for oppression.

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Crenshaw uses the experiences of Black women in America to explain intersectionality – Emma DeGraffenreid was a real Black woman who was denied employment solely because she was a Black woman, but without intersectionality, she had no way to defend that claim.

DeGraffenreid attempted to work at General Motors, which did hire both Black and white workers – so DeGraffenreid wasn’t able to claim the discrimination was fueled only by racism. And General Motors hired women, so she wasn’t able to argue their decision was out of sexism. In reality, General Motors was using a combination of both racism and sexism simultaneously: the only Black workers hired by General Motors were men used for industrial and maintenance jobs, and the only women hired were white and worked secretarial and front-office jobs. It’s only when both of those facts are combined that you understand the lens of intersectionality – how the combination of one’s identities creates nuanced and individual experiences of oppression.

This theory can be applied across all identity markers and oppressions. Visualize three people in your head: one queer but financially well-off man named James, one straight but poor man named Devon, and one queer and poor man named Julio. Using intersectionality to just evaluate their experiences across classism and heterosexism, you can see the different struggles James, Devon, and Julio have. Devon might be lower class, but he isn’t targeted for his sexual orientation; James might be gay but he has plenty of money and resources. At the intersection of classism and heterosexism, Julio is affected by both being queer and poor – he’s less likely to get jobs, be approved by welfare programs, or even be accepted into housing due to his sexuality and wealth status. He likely has a greater barrier to HIV prevention and treatment and he’s unable to file lawsuits if he’s treated poorly.

Additionally, intersectionality also believes all oppressions are connected. Fascism doesn’t happen in a vacuum – there’s a reason why racists are almost always sexists and homophobes. Oppression exists to benefit those in power, whether it’s directly creating profit or simply maintaining the societal system that keeps people from rising up against them. The systems that spread sexism use the same formula as the systems that spread transphobia. Due to this, allyship and activism require us to be committed to combating ALL oppressions – not just the ones that directly impact you. It’s impossible to fully get rid of sexism if you align yourself with transphobia, especially since so much of the ideology underneath transphobia is inherently sexist. You won’t be able to eliminate racism from society without also coming to terms with queer rights and income inequality. At the end of the day, remember: Nazis want to get rid of everyone, it’s just a matter of when.

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Allyship Resources

GENERAL ALLYSHIP
Creative Equity Toolkit @ creativeequitytoolkit.org / Dozens of toolkits and self-guided lesson plans to teach yourself about allyship, equity, diversity, and inclusion – all provided for free through Diversity Arts Australia and The British Council.
GLSEN @ glsen.org / LGBTQIA+ organization that centers on the rights of queer youth and GSAs (Gay-Straight or Gender-Sexuality Alliances) – one of their regular national events is Ally/Solidarity Week, which includes a ton of information aimed to teach others about social justice.
Guide to Allyship @ guidetoallyship.com / A fantastic open-source starter that introduces you to many of the fundamentals of allyship, similar to this guide at the Trans Solidarity Project.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) @ hrc.org / One of the largest LGBTQIA+ organizations in the world, dating back to 1980. They constantly produce resources and info guides, which cover topics like general allyship to trans issues.
It’s Pronounced Metrosexual @ itspronouncedmetrosexual.com / Free online resource hub meant to make all things social justice, gender, and sexuality-related easy to understand.
Learning For Justice @ learningforjustice.org / Education space that works through the Southern Poverty Law Center to teach people through their online resources and pivot them towards building an inclusive, multiracial democracy for all of our futures.
Movement Advancement Project @ lgbtmap.org / Nonprofit think tank that regularly creates infographics and resources on LGBTQIA+ rights and other social justice issues.
Out & Equal @ outandequal.org / LGBTQIA+ organization that largely interacts with high-level businesses and corporations – that also creates toolkits, resources, and guides (most of which are free).
PFLAG @ pflag.org / One of the United States’ biggest ally organizations, which provides support, educational material, and advocacy for both LGBTQIA+ people and those who love them.
Social Justice Books @ socialjusticebooks.org / Literature resource that gives great recommendations for social justice and allyship-themed books.
Straight for Equality @ straightforequality.org / A program operated by PFLAG that serves as a national outreach and education hub for anyone interested in learning more about LGBTQIA+ allyship.
The Safe Zone Project @ thesafezoneproject.com / Another free online resource that includes introductory curricula, activities, and other resources for all. Co-written by the same author as It’s Pronounced Metrosexual.
The Trevor Project @ thetrevorproject.org / A crisis and suicide prevention organization for LGBTQIA+ youth that also creates free guides and resources on allyship.

BISEXUAL+ ALLYSHIP
American Institute of Bisexuality @ bisexuality.org / Operates a wealth of programs meant to educate both the general public as well as civic and professional organizations on bisexuality.
Bi Foundation @ bi.org / Private foundation through the American Institute of Bisexuality that promotes understanding of bisexual+ topics, offering a large selection of articles and resources to choose from.
Bi History @ bihistory.wordpress.com / Just like the rest of the LGBTQIA+ community, bisexuality dates back as far back as humanity – and Bi History is a great place to start learning about queer history.
Bi Resource Center @ biresource.org / Organization that seeks to connect the bisexual+ community around the globe, and also provides plenty of resources in their info section.
Bisexual Organizing Project @ bisexualorganizingproject.org / Resources offered by BOP, a group committed to building organizing skills among the bi+ community.
Bi Survivors Network @ bisurvivorsnetwork.org / Regular chats and support provided by bi+ survivors for bi+ survivors.
History of Pansexuality @ historyofpansexuality.carrd.co / Facts and information to learn if you’re interested in the long history behind pansexuality.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) @ hrc.org / HRC also provides resources and information specific to the bi+ community via their website.
Queer Majority @ queermajority.com / Worldwide magazine that produces information, guidance, and critique on queerness.
Still Bisexual @ stillbi.org / Advocacy organization that uses education and storytelling to foster public acceptance of bisexual+ identities.
Teen Vogue @ teenvogue.com /
The Trevor Project @ thetrevorproject.org / In addition to general allyship guides, The Trevor Project also has information centered on bisexuality – which explains the details of queerness, bisexuality, pansexuality, and similar identities along the spectrum.
Unicorn @ unicornzine.com / LGBTQIA+ magazine that focuses on bisexual+ stories and information.

TRANSGENDER ALLYSHIP
Advocates for Trans Equality @ transequality.org / Legal rights organization formerly known as the National Center for Transgender Equality and Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. Provides a variety of legal-based resources and information about trans identities.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) @ hrc.org / Additional resources and guidance by HRC about transgender allyship.
It’s Pronounced Metrosexual @ itspronouncedmetrosexual.com / Free online resource hub, most of which covers gender-related allyship.
Neopronouns @ neopronounss.carrd.co / General starting point for both common pronouns and less common neopronouns.
PFLAG @ pflag.org / Educational materials, resources, and support on transgender and nonbinary issues through one of the largest allyship organizations in the United States.
Pronouns @ pronouns.org / Practical resource on the basics of pronouns and how they’re used.
Terrence Higgins Trust @ tht.org.uk / Health organization based in the United Kingdom that offers free sources and education on trans-related issues.
The Proud Trust @ theproudtrust.org / LGBTQIA+ youth charity with free information for both adults and young people.
The Trevor Project @ thetrevorproject.org / Resource hub on transgender identities, pronouns, and everything else related to supporting trans people.
Trans Lifeline @ translifeline.org / Crisis hotline for transgender individuals that also provides trans-specific resources.
Trans Student Educational Resources @ transstudent.org / Allyship and resource website with information on gender, pronouns, and basic trans allyship.
Trans What? @ transwhat.org / Starter guide that explains the basics of trans identity to those completely new to the field.

INTERSEX ALLYSHIP
4Intersex @ 4intersex.org / Learn the basics of intersex allyship and human rights through #4Intersex, a project of interACT Advocates.
A Gender Agenda @ genderrights.org.au / Australian organization that provides free resources online in addition to supporting intersex, transgender, and nonbinary individuals in Australia.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) @ hrc.org / Curated information and intersex resources by HRC, one of the largest LGBTQIA+ organizations in the world.
interACT @ interactadvocates.org / Social justice group that empowers intersex youth through advocacy, public engagement, and community connection – interACT also offers a large selection of intersex resources and guides.
Intersex Campaign for Equality @ intersexequality.com / Originally known as the United States branch of Organisation Intersex International, IC4E has grown to lead the fight for intersex human rights and creates educational materials for those interested in supporting intersex identities.
Intersex Day Project @ intersexday.org / While the Intersex Day Project largely focuses on International Intersex Awareness Day and Intersex Day of Solidarity, IDP offers additional advice and references on intersex issues.
Intersex Human Rights Australia @ ihra.org.au / National body in Australia that represents the needs of the intersex community, providing resources on allyship and bodily integrity.
Intersex Initiative @ intersexinitiative.org / US-based organization that hosts a wide selection of basic intersex resources.
Intersex Justice Project @ intersexjusticeproject.org / POC-led group that organizes resources for intersex-related protesting and justice.
The Intersex Roadshow @ intersexroadshow.blogspot.com / Personal blog that details the real-life experiences of intersex writer Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello, offering advice and guidance on intersex allyship.

ASEXUALITY ALLYSHIP
Aromantic-Spectrum Union for Recognition, Education, and Advocacy @ aromanticism.org / Community and advocacy organization with a collection of resources about aromanticism.
Asexuality Archive @ asexualityarchive.com / A collection of information and articles related to asexuality.
Asexuality Visibility and Education Network @ asexuality.org / The world’s largest asexual community, which maintains a massive resource library on the asexuality spectrum.
Demisexual Resource Center @ demisexuality.org / Informative website that covers demisexual questions and advice.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) @ hrc.org / HRC’s introductory to asexual allyship, as well as graysexuality and demisexuality.
The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project @ taaap.org / Asexual and aromantic resource-based organization that provides asexuality individuals with support in every aspect of life.
The Asexuality Handbook @ asexuality-handbook.com / Free guide that explains the basics of asexuality for beginners, meant to be understandable, deep, and well-referenced. Free guide that explains the basics of asexuality for beginners, meant to be understandable, deep, and well-referenced.

QUEER PEOPLE OF COLOR ALLYSHIP
African American Chronicles @ blackhistory.psu.edu / Collection of Black history and stories meant to fill the gaps in traditional education and allyship.
Anti-Oppression Network @ theantioppressionnetwork.com / Online collection of resources to support grassroots allyship and activism for Indigenous Americans.
Black Queer & Intersectional Collective @ bqic.net / Grassroots community organization that facilitates resources and zines for QTPOC allyship.
Healthy Native Youth @ healthynativeyouth.org / Native-centered health and resources materials offered for free through their toolbox.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) @ hrc.org / Directory on several resource hubs through HRC about best practices on supporting communities of color.
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance @ nqapia.org / LGBTQIA+ AAPI organization that works to develop resources to support and represent queer Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Native Appropriations @ nativeappropriations.com / Virtual forum that discusses Indigenous representations, stereotypes, cultural appropriations, news, and activism.
Reclaiming Native Truth @ rnt.firstnations.org / National project to foster cultural, social, and policy change that empowers Native Americans.
The Guide to Allyship @ guidetoallyship.com / A fantastic open-source starter that introduces you to many of the fundamentals of allyship, similar to this guide at the Trans Solidarity Project. Most of the topics listed within the guide are geared with Black allyship in mind.
This is Indian Country @ thisisindiancountry.com / Movement organized by the American Indian College Fund to raise awareness about Indigenous lives and history.
White Supremacy Culture @ whitesupremacyculture.info / Online and most current version of the original “White Supremacy Culture” from 1999, alongside resources and additional learning tools to continue your allyship.