St. Paul, MN – 100 marchers rallied at the State Capitol building and then marched, despite high winds, rain and sleet, through Saint Paul on March 31 to draw attention to the importance of defending trans people from the increasing attacks at the national level.

The organizers issued demands for trans healthcare, trans housing, trans civil rights, trans labor rights and trans safety. The protest had a program of speakers who addressed their demands.

Justin Grey Day spoke for the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark (TCC4J) about how CPAC, civilian police accountability councils, are key to protecting trans people from police brutality. “We need and deserve real accountability when it comes to policing – whether it’s Tallahassee, Minneapolis, New York, Memphis, Atlanta, Seattle and everywhere else in this country. And in Minneapolis we have a real opportunity to change all of that.” He encouraged the crowd to sign TCC4J’s petition to get CPAC on the ballot in Minneapolis.

Kai Shelley, from MN Workers United, was one of several labor leaders who spoke to the crowd about the critical need for the labor movement to defend the issues of their trans members, stating, “Working trans people are under threat from the same forces that would prefer you turn a blind eye to their massive wealth while you can barely afford rent. Far-right groups are using social media to dox, isolate, and smear educators who have the courage to be out in their classrooms. And the only thing standing between these workers and the powerful forces seeking to discredit them and remove them from our jobs, is the union and its allies.”

Robyn Harbison, from the MN Abortion Action Committee, addressed the crowd to make connections between the attacks on transgender rights with reproductive rights, “As an organization made up of primarily queer and trans people, we are also very aware that our enemies who try to deny people their reproductive freedom are the same people who are promoting and funding anti-trans bills like HF 1903 which would classify drag performances as adult entertainment. Say shame to that! Women’s and reproductive rights and the fight for trans liberation are two sides of the same coin.”

Leila Yeshaya, from the MN Anti-War Committee, also connected the fight for trans liberation to her movement’s struggle. “We are very familiar with human rights being used as a justification for U.S. military intervention. Queer and trans people, women, and children are continually presented as in need of rescue by the United States. And how will the United States rescue these people? With blockades, with sanctions, and with war. Meanwhile the U.S. Supreme Court has repealed Roe v. Wade, stripping birthing people of their bodily autonomy. Meanwhile, across the U.S., police budgets are increasing so that those police departments can continue their war against Black and brown communities. How can we trust a country with this track record? How can we believe what the United States tells us about life in countries it deems our enemies? We can’t, and we won’t!”

Celia Nimz, an organizer with U of MN Students for a Democratic Society, talked about the resistance of the Tampa 4 and for the need to defend the right to organize for LGBT rights. “The Republican Party is leading a right-wing and repressive attack on the people. This attack is transphobic, anti-women and racist – it’s denying people autonomy over our bodies, and our right to education! This attack was opened up with the long-term efforts to ban abortion, and it’s stunting queer and trans youth by denying access to HRT and LGBTQ education and curriculum in schools. This Republican-led attack is now making efforts to ban Black education, cultural studies, gender, women and sexuality studies, student cultural groups, and affirmative action. SDS stands in direct and active opposition to these attacks and condemns all university administrators who have remained complacent in these attacks on students and youth and their education!”

The action was initiated by Trans Movement for Liberation, an emerging group of young trans activists seeking to build networks of support and resistance for trans people across the country. The coalition of groups includes Tigerrs: Trans Intersex Gender-Expansive Revolutionary Resources & Services, U of MN Students for a Democratic Society, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark, Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Abortion Action Committee, and MN Workers United.

The crowd was motivated, despite the weather, to demand that Minnesota protect trans rights and to stand in solidarity with their siblings facing increased attacks in the U.S. South.

#MinneapolisMN #TransLivesMatter

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the Real Name Campaign NOLA.

On Tues, Feb 7, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry held a press conference to release a document titled the “Protecting Innocence Report”. This report cites young adult novels as “far from age appropriate” and containing “extremely graphic sexual content”.

These books, in fact, contain no such content. They contain content that is intended and appropriate for teens and young adults. They contain human anatomy, biological functions, and sexual experiences that most teens would be familiar with. In a state with a proven track record of failure in the field of sexual education, is it any wonder that teens would want such content in their public libraries?

Books targeted include Fun Home, Gender Queer: A Memoir, Breathless, The Lawn Boy, Blankets, The “V” Word, Jack of Hearts, All boys Aren't Blue, and even beloved and world-renowned author Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

The same day, Sen. Heather Cloud pre-filed Senate Bill 7. SB7 aims to make literature like the books listed in the “Innocence Report” less accessible to youth in public libraries. It's no coincidence that the majority of the books targeted deal with LGBTQ+ experiences. SB7 comes on the heels of a national assault on the rights and dignity of trans people in red states around the country. It also coincides with racist attacks on Black studies programs and anti-racist literature around the country.

Both the report and bill reflect nothing but the dishonesty, bias, and political opportunism of their authors. Like Republican politicians around the country, Landry and Cloud are simply using LGBTQ+ people, particularly children, as punching bags to cynically boost their careers and public profile. They believe that this kind of demagoguery will endear them to the Republican movement, which is becoming more evangelical, more nationalistic, and is attacking more of our democratic rights every day.

We in the Real Name Campaign are determined to prevent the passage of SB7 or any similar legislation. We are sick and tired of the abuse that already-vulnerable LGBTQ+ minors face at the hands of these crooked lawmakers.

We demand the withdrawal of SB7, and we demand that all state senators and congresspeople denounce and oppose it.

#NewOrleansLA #TransLivesMatter

Tallahassee, FL – On November 9, Florida State University Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a protest against the recent decision by the Florida Board of Medicine to ban, in a 6-3 vote, gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. This decision prohibits all types of gender-affirming care for those under 18, including puberty blockers, hormones, cross-hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery. Around 30 people attended the protest in front of the new student union.

This is not the first time that lawmakers have attacked gender-affirming care in recent months. In August of this year, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration ruled that Medicaid would no longer cover gender-affirming care.

The protest was part of a National Week of Action against the so-called “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” a bill recently introduced to Congress in the same spirit as Florida’s HB1557, the infamous “Don’t Say Gay Bill.” This bill, introduced by Republicans, would prohibit schools from providing sex education and access to library books with LGBTQ+ topics.

These recent homophobic, transphobic and anti-LGBTQ+ attacks all come under the guise of “protecting children,” despite the fact that restricting access to gender-affirming care does the exact opposite of protecting trans youth.

“The Board of Medicine is even going against advice from pediatricians from all over the country. I was on puberty blockers when I was a kid and I’m just fine,” said Ale Mejia, a member of FSUSDS.

Florida, a hotbed of reaction, is often the proving grounds for these types of legislation. Before the overturning of Roe v. Wade nationwide, the Florida legislature passed a massively unpopular 15-week abortion ban. The uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation goes hand in hand with the assault on women’s and reproductive rights.

Despite the legislative onslaught on LGBTQ+ rights, students recognize the limits of voting as a path towards true liberation. “How can you claim to support trans liberation when you uphold the system that trans people are trying to be liberated from?” questioned FSUSDS member Joel Nuñez.

FSUSDS was joined by several other student and community organizations, including FSU Generation Action, VegFSU, Student Farmworker Alliance (SFA), Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), FAMU Students for a Democratic Society (FAMUSDS), and the Tallahassee Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

#TallahasseeFL #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #TransLivesMatter

New Orleans, LA- LGBT activists are getting ready for the Trans March of Resilience this Wednesday, November 20. The community’s leading Black trans organizers are heading the march. Activist groups Operation Restoration, BreakOUT!, GLAAD, the Southern Equality Fund, and the Real Name Campaign are in support.

Milan Nicole Sherry, the main organizer, states “November 20 is known as the Trans Day of Remembrance, when many of the community’s trans individuals come together to remember the senseless violence faced by our community, and to celebrate our resilience as a community. We are marching to honor individuals lost this year as well as individuals whose cases are still open. We are fighting police brutality, the lack of official concern for our community, discriminatory policies within the workplace, and the general violence against us. We’re encouraging folks to come out in solidarity and honor our resilience.”

#NewOrleansLA #OppressedNationalities #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #TransLivesMatter #RealNameCampaign

Minneapolis, MN – Over 5000 people from all across Minnesota lined Lake Street, from South Minneapolis to Saint Paul, October 28, to show solidarity with transgender, gender nonconforming and intersex people under attack by the Trump administration.

The action comes in response to a Department of Health and Human Services memo leaked by the New York Times which reaffirmed the administration’s aim to legally define gender as “a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.” This definition, if adopted, not only erases any legal definition of “transgender,” but by narrowing the definition of “sex discrimination” to discrimination on the basis of biology, it endangers the rights of all trans, intersex and gender nonconforming people across the United States.

In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Hamline student and event organizer Andrew Weston outlined the core principles of the action. “You cannot erase us out of existence. You cannot intimidate us out of existence.” Weston added that they wanted to “let people know that we are here, we are seen. We will not be erased and we cannot be erased.”

All along the line, people expressed solidarity in their own ways. Some drew messages of support in chalk on the sidewalk. Unlawful Assembly, a marching band, moved up and down the sidewalk, bolstering spirits and leading chants, and a choir came out to sing songs of remembrance for those we have lost and of hope for our future.

Dozens of political, cultural, faith and health organizations officially supported the event, showed up and provided resources to aid the movement.

At a press conference held in front of the Third Precinct Police Department before the action, Cole Nicholls, of SDS-UMN and the MN Transgender Health Coalition pointed out the historical significance of the event’s location, stating, “We fought to free Cece McDonald, who, seven years ago, in the Cub parking lot across the street, was brutally assaulted by a man with a swastika on his chest. She was subsequently sentenced to 41 months in prison by our Hennepin County Attorney, Mike Freeman.”

Nicholls continued, “They say transphobia kills. It’s true. But it kills with hunger, with homelessness, with illness, with violence from bigots and johns and police, with the same weapons used by white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism to kill people all across the world. To those who stand with us today, I ask you to stand with us not only in the struggle for our rights, but for rent control, for public housing, for free health care, for community control of police and for unionization. We are fighting not only against discrimination. We are fighting to survive and to thrive. We will not be erased. And when we unite with oppressed people across the world, we cannot be erased.”

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #WomensMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #transgender #TransLivesMatter #DonaldTrump #TitleIX

Tampa, FL – More than 50 Tampa area students and community activists gathered at the University of South Florida’s MLK Plaza, October 24, for a rally against Trump’s attacks on transgender rights. The protest was organized by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Earlier this week it was announced that Trump administration officials were moving to alter Title IX rules to exclude trans people from basic services and protection from discrimination. This is only the latest attack on the LGBTQ+ community from the Trump administration.

“We need to organize against Trump’s attacks on trans rights. The government needs to know that we will stand up and stand together against what they try to force on us, and we won’t take no for an answer,” said Taylor Cook, an organizer from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, underscoring the need for a militant response.

The protest was located in a central area of campus with hundreds of students walking by. The protesters chanted, “When trans people are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “It’s our history don’t deny it, Stonewall was a trans riot!” drowning out heckling from bigoted students nearby.

The protest showed that the way forward for activists resisting Trump’s attacks on trans people is through mass protests and action. The event was part of Students for a Democratic Society’s national week of action in defense of trans rights.

#TampaFL #WomensMovement #LGBTQ #US #PeoplesStruggles #TampaBayStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #TransLivesMatter #DonaldTrump #TitleIX #TransRights

Minneapolis, MN – Steff Yorek, the Political Secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, sharply condemned the Trump administration, October 22, for orchestrating attacks on the democratic rights of transgender people.

According to widespread media reports, officials in the Trump admiration are moving to alter Title IX rules to exclude transgender people for any legal protections.

“The reactionary and right-wing bigots of the Trump administration are preparing an attack on the democratic rights of transgender people. They are attempting to erase people’s existence, and roll back the framework for the scant legal protections that currently exist,” said Yorek.

This latest attack on transgender people comes in the context of a misogynist, anti-LGBTQ agenda that is being promoted by Trump and his followers.

#MinneapolisMN #WomensMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #transgender #TransLivesMatter #DonaldTrump #TitleIX

Tenia, who wrote about the attack on social media said, “Before providing my address he was well aware of me being transgender. This man never gave me any inclination that his intentions were to kill.”

Tenia touched upon a deadly stereotype about trans women — that they are tricking men into sleeping with them.

The idea that trans women deserve to be harmed because they won't immediately reveal that they are transgender is absolutely wrong. This excuse is just another way to oppress women and shift the responsibility from abusers onto victims.

This has been infamously used in ‘trans panic defense’ cases. Which is defined by the National LGBT Bar Association as, “a legal strategy which asks a jury to find that a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction, including murder.”

For example, in 2013 African American woman Islan Nettles was beaten to death in New York City. The defendant, James Dixon, who had a history of fetishizing trans women, argued he murdered Islan because he was in a “blind fury” after finding out Nettles was transgender. Dixon was only sentenced to 12 years, a lenient sentence for murder.

Even in death, trans women face humiliation and degradation. They are frequently misgendered by the police and media.

In the state of Florida this year alone, four Black trans women have been killed, with the killers still on the loose. Three of those murders happened in Jacksonville. The man who stabbed, choked and beat Tenia was arrested in Missouri and charged with first-degree domestic violence with serious physical injury.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #LGBTQRights #Florida #Antiracism #TransLivesMatter

Jacksonville, FL – About 150 people came out to a Trans Lives Matter rally, June 27, in front of Jacksonville courthouse to demand justice. The event was sponsored by many organizations including Jacksonville Community Action Committee, Coalition for Consent, Jacksonville Transgender Action Committee, Equality Florida, and Transgender Awareness Project. This rally was to honor the lives of the three black transgender women murdered here in Jacksonville.

Just this week a black transgender woman, Cathalina Christina James, was murdered in Jacksonville, which makes this the third transgender women to be killed, following Celine Walker and Antash’a English. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) believes that none of the murders are connected in any way, but some community members disagree. This year alone, 13 transgender people have been murdered in the U.S., with 23% of those killed occurring in Jacksonville.

Community members and activists demanded community control of the police at the rally. Christina Kittle led chants, including, “When Black trans women lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” along with “Black lives matter, Black trans lives matter” and “No Justice, no peace. No transphobic police.”

Kittle told the crowd, “We need to get rid of the illusion that there is a force that equally protects all of us. We need to keep building our communities and hold the JSO accountable.” Kittle and other speakers talked about why it’s necessary for the Jacksonville community, especially the Black community, to fight for community control of the police, making sure misgendering doesn’t persist along the JSO and that police find the possible serial killer attacking the transgender community.

“Revolutionary women of color such as Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson fought the battles and paved the way for gay and trans liberation, and are so often left out of the narrative by rainbow capitalism, but the fight for trans liberation has always been connected to the fight for police accountability,” stated Elias Joseph, a local Syrian trans activist and community organizer.

Many are also calling for the resignation of Jacksonville’s Sheriff Mike Williams, who has yet to make a statement on the murders of the black transwomen, along with Mayor Lenny Curry, whose office has been silent around these deaths.

Protesters vowed to keep up the fight until justice is won.

#JacksonvilleFL #AfricanAmerican #TransLivesMatter #JacksonvilleCommunityActionCommittee #CoalitionForConsent

Jacksonville, FL – Around 50 people rallied for trans rights at Memorial Park in Jacksonville, June 24. Organized by the Coalition for Consent, Jacksonville Transgender Action Committee along with other groups, protesters rallied to demand an end to attacks on the trans community, especially oppressed nationality trans women.

Protest organizers led chants of “No justice, no peace, no transphobic police.” Other chants included, “Queer is hot, war is not, queer is hot, Trump is not.”

So far 13 trans women have been murdered this year.

Protesters demanded an end to these attacks as well as end to laws that criminalize the trans community.

#JacksonvilleFL #InJusticeSystem #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TransLivesMatter

Organizers with Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee started the rally chanting, “We just wanna pee, end trans misogyny,” and “Trans lives mean, we got to fight back.” Organizers then held a moment of silence for the 11 Trans folk that have lost their lives since the beginning of 2015.

After the moment of silence, each speaker addressed how this would affect their daily lives and expressed their anger over the lack of attention those in power pay to Transgender issues. Burr Wilderbaby from Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee said, “It is imperative that we continue to fight for justice in all its facets, including the basic human right to release our bodily fluids in facilities that match our gender identities without fear of imprisonment, outrageous financial repercussions, emotional and bodily harm, or death.”

After impassioned speeches, the group marched into the capitol building to deliver a letter to Florida Governor Rick Scott. The letter called for Scott to stand with Trans Lives Matter and to veto the bill if it were to come to his desk. The protesters welcomed hundred of lobbyists and other attendees on the first day of session by collectively reading the letter out loud using a mic check. The group then marched into Governor Scott’s office to deliver the letter and to demand a meeting on the bill. The group was upset to hear that they were refused a meeting with the governor.

”We rallied today so that our voices could be heard. Even if the men in power didn't care what we had to say, the Trans people of Tallahassee now know that someone has got their back,” said Naomi Bradley from Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee.

“Every day Trans people everywhere face ridiculous amount of violence and transphobia while doing even basic things like using the bathroom and this bill will only increase that violence and put the law on the side of transphobes,” said Katherine Draken from Students for a Democratic Society.

On March 4, the House Civil Justice Subcommittee met to vote on the bill. Organizers spoke in front of the Civil Justice Subcommittee to voice their opposition to bill. Civil Justice Subcommittee passed the bill with a 9-4 vote. The bill now must go through two more committees before it goes to the house floor.

“Today’s passage in the committee has shown us that legislators care more about the most powerful in this society, rather than those who are the most oppressed and vulnerable amongst us. It is disgusting that more time was spent on how this would costs businesses and Fortune 500 companies extra money, than the fact that this would cost Transgender women their safety and livelihood,” said Shivaani Ehsaan in front of the Civil Justice Subcommittee.

Trans Lives Matter Tallahassee members were kicked out of the committee room for chanting, “Trans lives matter” when the bill was voted up. Organizers promised to continue to protest until the bill is stopped.

#TallahasseeFL #transgender #Florida #TransLivesMatter

“Trans oppression is a struggle faced all over the world, from the millions of Indian transgender people who face massive unemployment, homelessness, rape and torture, to the 40% of American trans people who attempt suicide each year. We must smash trans oppression to achieve true liberation,” said a transgender woman who spoke at the event.

Regina Joseph of Dream Defenders addressed the crowd, “Trans people, especially those of color, are more likely to be attacked by the police. We must come together to smash all systems of oppression because our liberation is linked together.”

“Every day trans people are violently oppressed simply for being who they are and we need to radically change society’s views of gender if we want trans liberation,” said Katherine Draken from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

The event educated people about the murder of Jennifer Laude by a U.S. Marine at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Laude’s murder falls under the U.S. Military’s Visiting Forces Agreement, so the Philippine government has little to no say in prosecuting the U.S. Marine. U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton committed a hate crime when he choked Jennifer Laude to death for being transgender. The U.S. conducts aggressive war games and oversees a counter-insurgency war against Filipino revolutionaries, so U.S. forces are given special treatment for their crimes.

The recent suicide death of teenager Leelah Alcorn in Cincinnati, Ohio, after her parents attempt to force her into ‘conversion’ therapy, is inspiring protests and vigils as well.

Student organizers and many around the country hope that recent incidents will launch a new struggle for transgender rights. Protest movements from the Philippines and India are inspiring activists in other parts of the world, including the U.S.

The Center for Participant Education, Dream Defenders, Students for a Democratic Society and The F-Word called the vigil to speak out for transgender liberation.

#TallahasseFL #TallahasseeFL #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #transgender #DreamDefenders #TransLivesMatter