Cover Star Chase Strangio Is Our Defender
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.
