Trans Tactics: Sun Tzu’s Guide to Defending Our Lives: Part 8
“The wise warrior avoids the battle. He plans. He prepares.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In a culture built on urgency, panic, and burnout, slowing down feels like failure. But for trans advocates, it might be our most powerful move yet.
Every win we’ve had, every policy change, cultural shift, or act of resistance that stuck didn’t happen because we moved faster than the enemy. It happened because we moved smarter.
Planning, patience, and long-term thinking aren’t just survival tools. They’re strategy. And as Sun Tzu reminds us, you don’t have to fight every fight to win the war.
Why Slowing Down Is a Radical Act
We’re trained to react. Every anti-trans headline, bill, or tweet sets off alarms. It’s easy to feel like if we’re not yelling right now, we’re losing ground.
But real power doesn’t live in urgency; it lives in coordination. In choosing which fights to engage. In deciding when to act and how.
Planning is power because it makes your moves intentional, not reactionary.
What Planning Looks Like in Trans Advocacy
Planning isn’t glamorous, but it’s essential. It’s spreadsheets, strategy calls, training sessions, fundraising efforts, alliance-building, and legal prep work. It’s creating blueprints while the rest of the world is distracted by the latest outrage.
Examples of strategic planning in action:
- Creating emergency response plans for new anti-trans laws
- Mapping local candidates and prepping election ground games
- Building education materials before they’re needed
- Investing in leadership pipelines and future organizers
- Documenting abuses now to fuel lawsuits later
You’re not “doing nothing” when you’re thinking ahead. You’re preparing for a future no one else is planning to give you.
Real-World Example: The ACLU’s Long Game
While others were focused on each individual anti-trans bill, the ACLU was quietly tracking trends, filing targeted lawsuits, and planning for Supreme Court escalation. Their victory records weren’t flukes; they were the result of years of legal and logistical preparation.
When Not to React: Choosing Your Fights
Reacting to everything is unsustainable. It dilutes energy, burns out advocates, and leaves us fighting on terrain the enemy picked.
Planning lets you choose your battlefield.
Ask yourself:
- Does this move me toward my long-term goal?
- Am I fighting back or being baited?
- Can this be delegated or delayed?
- Who benefits from my exhaustion?
Sometimes silence is not surrender; it’s strategy. You don’t have to explain your humanity on every comment thread.
How to Build a Strategic Mindset
Developing a long-term approach takes intention. Here’s how to build yours:
- Document Everything: Create records of local transphobic policies, public comments, officials’ statements, and patterns of behavior. This becomes evidence for future organizing or legal challenges.
- Map Allies and Resources: Know who has what power. Which orgs have legal teams? Which community members have media access? Planning is about assembling your toolkit before the crisis.
- Set Milestones, Not Just Goals: Break your vision into actionable steps. Celebrate wins, however small. Long-term strategy stays alive when you can track your momentum.
- Invest in People, Not Just Moments: Movements last when leadership is sustainable. That means mentoring new organizers, sharing knowledge, and preventing burnout.
Ally Action: Support the Long Game
If you’re an ally, your role in long-term planning is vital. We need more than short-term support; we need sustained investment.
Ways to help:
- Fund strategic planning work, not just crisis response
- Support trans leadership development
- Provide infrastructure (software, meeting space, security support)
- Normalize patient progress—even when it doesn’t go viral
Movements aren’t built in trending moments. They’re built behind the scenes.
Real-World Example: Trans Voter Mobilization in Swing States
In key swing states, local trans organizations are already preparing for 2026. They’re identifying supportive districts, training volunteers, building voter guides, and forming coalitions with reproductive rights groups. The opposition might have louder headlines, but we’re planting deeper roots.
The Bottom Line
Sun Tzu taught us that victory belongs not to the loudest warrior, but to the one who chooses their moment wisely.
Trans advocacy isn’t a sprint; it’s a campaign. And in campaigns, the quiet planners often outlast the loudest threats.
Let them scream. Let them rush. We are moving on our timeline with clarity, discipline, and unstoppable resolve.
The war is long. But we’ve already mapped the endgame.
Series Recap Coming Soon: Download the Full Trans Tactics Guide for Pride
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