Chase Strangio, an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, is “the face of the whole legal battle for trans rights in the U.S.” At least, that’s how a friend of mine recently described him.
And from what I can tell, he never seems to sleep, never seems to stop. If he’s not in some courtroom litigating against a new state law, he’s on the news talking about it or posting a thread of resources and responsive actions for his nearly 160,000 combined social media followers to take.
To paraphrase the title of a Sarah Jessica Parker movie I’ve never seen: I don’t know how he does it. Over the span of his career, Strangio has gone from an underpaid, overworked lawyer at an LGBTQ+ legal aid organization focused on direct services for queer and trans New Yorkers to a better-paid, still overworked lawyer working on cases that impact LGBTQ+ communities at large in the nation’s highest courts.
In tandem with the growth of his professional profile as a civil rights advocate, Strangio has leveraged his own celebrity along with the profiles of well-followed friends to shift public consciousness: appearing on the Emmys red carpet with Laverne Cox, raising $3 million in partnership with Ariana Grande, and hosting a series of Instagram lives.