Its hard to underestimate the impact that having supportive parents can make on LGBTQ+ young people. For transgender children, who, studies have shown, are disproportionately at risk of attempting suicide, that support can mean the difference between life and death.But some parents of trans kids dont stop at simply supporting their children and validating their gender identities. Amid endless attacks from the current presidential administration, these five fierce parents are fighting for the rights of all trans kids in the streets, the airwaves, and the halls of power. Related I will do anything to save him: Watch 7 unshakable parents demand rights for their trans kids Stephen ChukumbaStephen Chukumba in The Dads. | Courtesy of Netflix Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today In the most recent of the essays he frequently publishes on Substack and Medium, Stephen Chukumba wrote movingly about the rollercoaster that parents of trans and gender-expansive children are experiencing as they try to protect their kids in the current political climate. He said the relief of small victories like Democratic wins in this months elections and the Senate stripping anti-trans provisions from the continuing resolution that ended the recent government shutdown gives way to anxiety when, for instance, the Supreme Court allows the Trump administrations anti-trans policies to take effect.Chukumba, the widowed father of a transgender son, works tirelessly to share peoples stories through his work as an activist, speaker, and podcast host. Along with the four other fathers featured in the 2023 documentary short The Dads, Chukumba co-founded The Dads Foundation, a nonprofit that provides resources and support for male-identified parents and caregivers of trans kids through community-building retreats.As parents like him try to prepare their families for an uncertain future, Chukumba writes that hope remains a vital tool of resistance. Until the tides turn againand they willhope will have to be enough to carry us through the next rise and the next fall of this endless roller coaster. Amber BriggleAmber Briggle | ScreenshotIn 2016, Ken Paxton accepted Texas momAmber Brigglesinvitation to dinner with her family including her trans son, Max. That meeting may not have done much to change the Republican Attorney Generals anti-trans stance, but it launched Briggle into the national spotlight. She became a founding member of the Human Rights Campaigns Parents for Transgender Equality National Council and its national co-chair, and has continued to lobby against Texass anti-trans laws ever since.In 2022, Briggle and her family joined two other families as plaintiffs in PFLAG v. Abbott, a lawsuit challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts (R) call for the states Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming healthcare to their transgender kids. The suit also sought to block the state from investigating members of PFLAG. The Briggles and their co-plaintiffs triumphed in June 2022, when a district court judge granted a temporary injunction blocking the Texas DFPS from investigating the parents named in the lawsuit, and any families who help their trans kids access gender-affirming care.And the fight goes on for Briggle, who continues to advocate for trans kids through her work as an activist, writer, and speaker, and through sharing her familys story. As she notes in the 2024 Oscar shortlisted documentary short Love to the Max, her son is thriving because he has parents who affirm him and provide him the support he needs. And who are willing to fight for him. Kimberly ShappleyThe Shappleys | GofundmeKimberly Shappleys journey from conservative Christian to unflagging advocate for her trans daughter Kai began well before the familys story went viral. In 2017, she shared their story with the world, explaining that she was spurred to activism after her daughters former school district in Pearland, Texas, banned Kai from using her kindergarten girls bathroom. When the districts superintendent compared allowing trans girls to use girls bathrooms to pedophilia, Shappley wrote in 2018, The momma bear in me came out and an active political role became a necessity.In the years that followed, the Shappleys fought tirelessly against Texass anti-trans laws, with Kai even testifying before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee in 2021, while Kimberly continued to speak out in op-eds for Good Housekeeping and Them. Ultimately, Kimberly made the gut-wrenching decision to move her family out of Texas after the state passed a law redefining child abuse as including allowing minors access to gender-affirming care.While the Shappleys have kept a lower profile over the past couple of years, Kai already an Emmy-winner and childrens book author continues to pursue her dreams, proving what trans kids can do with the fierce support of their parents. Nereyda HernandezNereyda Hernandez | Screenshot / KCRAShortly after a former gym teacher and the board president of a nearby school district in California began doxxing her transgender daughter on social media last year making the 17-year-old high school volleyball player the target ofnationwide hate and harassment Nereyda Hernandez posted a message to her daughter on Instagram: As your MOTHER I Promise you that I will Always be in one of three places, she wrote. In FRONT of you to CHEER you on, BEHIND you to have your BACK, or NEXT to you so you are NOT walking alone.Hernandez has more than made good on that promise, defending her daughters right to play on her high schools girls team before the Riverside Unified School District, and blasting California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for naming her child in a conversation with the late anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist activist Charlie Kirk earlier this year.While advocating for her daughter, Hernandez, who has said she previously supported the current president but now identifies as an independent, has also provided a model for nonpartisan support for trans rights. I wanted to put that out there so people know it doesnt matter what your political views are, she toldThe Guardian in June. You can still be accepting and supportive of your family member. Vanessa & JR FordVanessa and JR Ford with their children. | ScreenshotJR and Vanessa Ford have been supporting and advocating for their transgender child since 2015, when, on their fourth birthday, Ellie informed them that they were a girl in my heart and my brain. The Fords shared their story in the 2017 National Geographic documentary Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric, and other national media outlets, and went on to become founding members of the Human Rights Campaigns Parents for Transgender Equality National Council. They also participate in the TransYouth Project. They were among the parents of trans kids who spoke out against anti-trans policies during the first Trump administration, meeting with then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.In 2021, the couple published Calvin, a Lambda Literary Award-winning childrens book loosely based on Ellies experience blossoming into her true self as a youngster with supportive parents. Last year, Vanessa co-authored The Advocate Educators Handbook, a guide for educators who want to make schools safer for trans and gender-expansive students to thrive.A decade after Ellie came out to them, JR and Vanessa continue their work to make the world better for their child and all trans children, providing resources through their website and advocating for change. Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.