Appleton workers rally for May Day: “Trans rights are workers' rights!”
Appleton, WI – Hundreds of workers, queer activists and community members flooded Houdini Plaza in Appleton, Wisconsin, on May 1, International Workers Day, kicking off a march that would face police repression before triumphantly returning to cheers of public support.
The action, organized by Hate Free Outagamie, Appleton Area NOW, Fox Valley Indivisible, ESTHER Fox Valley and other grassroots groups, sent an unmistakable message, that their solidarity is stronger than their oppression.
Opening call to action: “Defend your neighbors!”
Rev. Hannah Roberts Villnave of Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship opened the rally with a fiery challenge, stating, “Loving your neighbor means getting in the way of deportations, standing between trans folks and their attackers. They'll have to go through us first!” as the crowd responded with roars of approval.
Labor's fighting legacy
Jay Gibbs of UFCW Local 1473 grounded the day in Wisconsin's radical labor history, referring to events from the Bay View Massacre to current union drives. “May Day was born from blood spilled for the eight-hour day,” Gibbs said, “When we fight for the worker next to us, we fight for every worker.”
Highlighting the militant labor movement’s deep roots in Wisconsin, Gibbs slammed bosses and politicians who “prioritize profits over people” and cynically divide workers by race, gender or identity.
“Solidarity is how we win,” Gibbs declared, “When we fight for the worker next to us, we fight for every worker.”
Queer and worker solidarity
Mary Bogen, chair of Hate Free Outagamie, spoke on the fundamental link between the labor movement and the fight for queer liberation. They cited the examples of the armed lesbians who defended auto workers from strikebreakers in the 1930s, as well as the queer activists who marched with British miners who resisted Thatcher in the 1980s.
As the Trump administration escalates its attacks on trans healthcare and educators, Bogen castigated the Outagamie County Board for its continued opposition to a Trans Sanctuary ordinance, flying in the face of the will of the people embodied in the nearly 2000 petition signatures from workers, union members and allies.
“Their silence abandons trans workers, youth and families,” Bogen said, “But we say: Not here. Not ever. When one of us is denied safety, when one of us is stripped of healthcare, when one of us is forced into the shadows; every worker is weaker for it.”
Police repression meets people's power
As the march arrived at the Outagamie County courthouse from Houdini, it was greeted by almost a dozen Appleton Police Department squad cars and officers. A wall of squad cars and officers blocked the second leg of the march from returning to Houdini plaza from the courthouse. Officer William Berens, who has a history of targeting the movement, particularly women and non-binary people shoved a security team member multiple times.
When chants of “Let us march!” were ignored, the crowd pivoted to sidewalk protest, drawing honks and cheers from passing drivers. “APD showed their true role as enforcers for the powerful,” said Hate Free Outagamie Co-chair Tanner Ziebell, “But we showed our power; disciplined, united and unstoppable.”
This marks at least the second time Officer Berens has physically harassed protest marshals, the first time being at a Palestine march, now at May Day. APD's pattern is clear. But Appleton’s activists will keep marching, organizing, and fighting back. “They tried to stop us, but we marched anyway,” said UFCW organizer and HFO member Jay Gibbs, “That's the spirit of May Day!”