New Orleans, LA – Anti-war protesters gathered on February 5 in New Orleans at Lafayette Square Park to demand an end to NATO aggression against Russia. Activists carried signs and chanted slogans calling for peace and the disbandment of NATO.

The protest was organized by a coalition including the Communist Party USA, the Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Speakers decried the latest U.S. attempt to escalate the situation in Ukraine, which they said threatens us with a nuclear conflict with Russia. The protest also highlighted the negative role that NATO has played in Ukraine’s internal conflict and the need to oppose imperialism.

Quest Riggs of Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “When all of the mass movements in this country unite against the war machine, they can hold back the march towards imperialist war and achieve real justice here at home.”

With signs like “Disband NATO” and “Fund healthcare, not war,” the demonstrators gave voice to the demands of the peace movement and showed that the people of New Orleans reject imperialist war.

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New Orleans, LA – On July 11, 50 protesters took to the streets to fight back against Louisiana’s possible ban on transgender kids playing sports. Unexpected heavy rains drenched them soon after they started walking.

In the words of Toni Jones of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Real Name Campaign NOLA: “We’re not out here worrying about this rain, we’re out here worrying about this bill!”

Senate Bill 156 threatens to prohibit trans kids from participating in school sports from kindergarten through college. The bill’s language singles out trans girls. It opens the chance to schools’ inspecting children’s anatomies to see if they’re transgender, which is sexual assault.

The state’s legislative session is over, and the governor vetoed the bill, but far-right evangelicals want it back. Ultraconservatives demand a special legislative session just to re-vote on the issue and maybe override the veto. The Democrat Party did not come out strongly against them. In fact, most Democrat legislators either voted for the ban or abstained during the regular legislative session.

The rally’s speakers called attention to these points. Protesters chanted, “Hands off trans kids!” and “If you don’t hear us, if you don’t see us, you better believe you’re gonna fear us!”

Real Name Campaign, the group that organized this march, called a phone zap to pressure legislators to vote NO. Sign up at tiny.cc/STOPSB156

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New Orleans, LA – On May 7, a coalition of Louisiana’s progressive organizations gathered at city hall for a press conference on the state legislature’s anti-transgender bills. Supporters came from many ranks of the movement against gender-based oppression. These included fighters for sex workers’ rights, reproductive justice, and trans liberation.

Participants chanted “Protect trans youth!” and “Hands off trans kids!” In a collective statement, the coalition demanded an end to bills targeting trans people. It emphasized that transphobia has nothing to do with the needs of ordinary Louisiana residents. The statement called out the proposed laws for being part of “a cowardly and bigoted attempt to scapegoat and erase trans kids, to let them die and divert attention from social problems.”

This past year, the state legislature has considered two anti-trans bills.

The first tried to prohibit trans youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care without both parents’ consent (House Bill 575 and Senate Bill 104). “These bills would’ve effectively banned healthcare for trans youth and criminalized what I do,” said healthcare worker Cody Smith, representing Louisiana Trans Advocates. The medical ban insultingly entered the legislature on Trans Day of Visibility, but the movement quickly mobilized to shut it down. Over 100 community members came out in protest on April 1, and hundreds more made phone calls throughout the month. The ban would later die before leaving the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

The other bill proposes a ban against trans youth of all ages playing sports (House Bill 542 and Senate Bill 156). Toni Jones of Real Name Campaign laid out that a sports ban “infringes on the freedom and autonomy of trans youth.” It would force kids into medical inspections of their genders, effectively legalizing the sexual assault of minors. The legislation died in the House but passed in the Senate at the urging of Senator Beth Mizell ®. The House Education Committee killed its version of the bill after an outpouring of opposing testimonials at the hearing. This same committee will soon vote on the Senate version of the bill.

Real Name Campaign NOLA, an organization fighting for accessible name and gender marker changes, initiated the press conference, which also highlighted the leading role of Louisiana Trans Advocates. The group spent weeks lobbying day-in and day-out at the capitol. It also organized phone calls and brought people out to share testimonials at the HB 542 committee hearing.

Jessica Frankel of the Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom called trans bodily autonomy a reproductive rights issue. Women With A Vision, an organization that recently pushed for the decriminalization of sex work, spoke in solidarity as well. Lakeesha Harris of WWAV summarized: “Trans people are not up for slaughter, period.”

Endorsements for the conference came from Real Name Campaign NOLA, Freedom Road Socialist Organization – New Orleans, Women With A Vision, Inc., House of Tulip, Mariah Moore’ TIDAL (Trans & Gender Non-Conforming Inclusive Development, Advocacy, & Leadership), Trans Resource Network NOLA, Louisiana Trans Advocates, and Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom.

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