For over a decade, Dr. Bronner’s has supported the LGBTQ+ community through nonprofit partnerships, advocacy, and participation in Pride events nationwide. In June and July 2026, as part of our Pride campaign, we are launching a limited-edition Pride soap featuring a special scent and exclusive label to honor that long-standing commitment and advance freedom of expression globally. We are committed to using our platform to celebrate the community and highlight the urgent fight to protect LGBTQ+ rights. As part of this initiative, we are interviewing our community advisors who have provided strategic advice to our planning process.
According to the ACLU, since January 2026, over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced into legislation, each one an attempt to strip away the rights of countless individuals seeking to live authentically and access essential services like healthcare, education, and public spaces without discrimination. In this climate, the promise of a safe future feels increasingly distant for many in the LGBTQ+ community.
Jack Knoxville, founder of the Trans Empowerment Project, lives with this reality every day. As one of the largest providers of direct aid for transgender communities across the United States, the Trans Empowerment Project builds real, lasting support for disabled Two-Spirit, trans, intersex, and gender-expansive (2TIGE) communities of color through direct aid and justice-rooted training. They are creating systems where communities can truly thrive.
Against an accelerating wave of anti-trans sentiment backed by government officials and legislation, Jack confronts these challenges head-on. His work demonstrates the transformative power of what becomes possible when we have the courage, resources, and resilience to fight back as well as the resolve to build the inclusive future we imagine. They are building a new model of care and community, rooted in organizing and collective action.
In the United States, while Pride celebrations dominate headlines between June and July, for advocates like Jack, the work continues long after the parades end. His commitment to liberation is sustained and unwavering.
Since 2024, Dr. Bronner’s has supported the Trans Empowerment Project, and we are honored to interview Jack Knoxville to learn about his work and the inclusive world he is working to build.
What work does the Trans Empowerment Project do, why is it needed, and what should people understand about the impact you’re striving to make?
Trans Empowerment Project is a grassroots, community-centered nonprofit building the equitable future we all deserve by fueling 2TIGE power and calling people into organizing, healing, and collective action to create sustainable change.
Our work centers disabled Two-Spirit, Trans, intersex, and Gender Expansive (2TIGE) community members who are also Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We invest in 2TIGE people as leaders, supporting them in taking and leading actions in their own communities, building connections, and creating real solutions that reflect their lived experiences, their way.
This work is needed because too many people in these communities are still navigating systems that were never designed for us to thrive. Housing instability, healthcare barriers, and economic exclusion aren’t theoretical; they’re everyday realities.
What makes our approach different is that we’re not just responding to these conditions, we’re building power to change them. We’re creating pathways for people to organize, to heal, and to lead, because survival alone is not a long-term strategy.
The impact we’re striving for is a shift in what’s possible when we stop asking for permission to exist and start building systems of support that actually center us, with individuals and partners who genuinely want to reach the equitable future; one where 2TIGE people aren’t treated as problems to solve, but as leaders, creators, and community builders with the resources we deserve to thrive on our own terms.
What does Pride mean to you?
Pride, to me, is a celebration, but it’s also a reality check.
Pride should feel like possibility. Not just rainbow branding, but real commitment that shows up for our community long after June ends.
While I love seeing our community celebrated, I also want that celebration to mean something beyond the aesthetics.
Because it’s about honoring the survival, resistance, and brilliance of our community as a collective. But it’s also about being honest about the fact that not everyone in our community is experiencing that same celebration in the same way.
Because visibility without investment doesn’t actually change people’s lives.
For me, Pride is about making sure the people who are most impacted, especially disabled 2TIGE-BIPOC folks, aren’t just part of the conversation when it’s convenient, but are actually being seen, centered, supported, protected, and resourced so that we too have the opportunity to live our best lives!
What are the Trans Empowerment Project team’s plans for this year?
This year, our focus is on deepening our work and strengthening our connections across the community. We’re being very intentional about building relationships that ensure 2TIGE people have access to support, resources, and community, no matter where they are. Especially in a time where we’re seeing increased attacks on our community, that connection isn’t just important, it’s protective.
We’re continuing to build out our Microgrants Project while also piloting our fellowship program as one way to invest in community members and their leadership. At the same time, we’re expanding the ways we support healing and restoration, because our people deserve more than just surviving difficult conditions.
That looks like creating space for body movement, rest, and connection through programs like Sisterhood Not Cisterhood’s decompression sessions, developing Camp Chaos, and organizing gaming tournaments through Quest Collective that center joy and accessibility.
We’re also continuing to invest in organizing and leadership. I host biweekly organizing meetings where community members build skills and take action locally, whether that’s hosting clothing swaps or participating in broader efforts like Days of Action with partners like the ACLU to advocate for trans athletes and create more inclusive outdoor spaces.
At the core of all of this is a belief that fear and isolation are tools used against our community, and we’re actively working against both.
Joy is part of our resistance. Community is how we disrupt isolation. And education is how we build power.
So, this year isn’t just about expanding outward; it’s about going deeper, strengthening the foundation, and making sure our community is resourced, connected, and empowered for the long term.
As an activist, what’s your advice for other activists who wish to sustain their work and dedication over time? How do you stay committed and driven?
Burnout is not a badge of honor!
We’ve been taught that exhaustion equals commitment, but in reality, it just limits how long we can stay in the work. Rest, joy, and community aren’t distractions; they’re part of the strategy when it comes to building something sustainable.
For me, staying committed means remembering why I’m doing this work and that this work is about more than just resisting harm; it’s also about building something better. That’s why I prioritize building relationships with helpers over staying stuck fighting with haters who are only meant to drain me.
At Trans Empowerment Project and throughout my career, my work has always been about more than just pushing back against what’s broken but also focused on creating what should exist instead.
As someone who holds the identities I do, sometimes honoring that commitment can also look like allowing myself to show up with the actual capacity I’m capable of, or resting and stepping away long enough to refill my cup, without holding myself to impossible standards of perfection when I’m not able to show up with my full self.
How can readers best support your work?
The most direct way to support our work is by donating to Trans Empowerment Project, especially our microgrants, which provide immediate, tangible support to 2TIGE community members navigating crisis.
People can also support us by sharing our work, amplifying our programs, and helping us reach the people who need these resources most.
Because this isn’t just about supporting an organization, it’s about strengthening a community-led movement.
If you want to get more involved, we offer opportunities to learn and take action through programs like Ally Academy and ways to plug into our broader organizing efforts.
And if you want to connect more with the storytelling and cultural work behind all of this, you can find me under Jacktivism101 across most social platforms, where I explore how we shift culture, challenge narratives, and build change that actually lasts.
I also recently launched a podcast called “My So-Called ‘Radical’ Life” which you can find on my website: jackknoxville.com or on most of the major platforms where you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, etc.)
At the end of the day, support is about staying engaged. I invite everyone reading this to pay attention, speak up, and to become part of building something better with us!