What Can We Do To Help Zooey Zephyr and Trans People in Montana and across the Country?
What Can We Do To Help Zooey Zephyr and Trans People in Montana and across the Country?
We can make her silencing go viral like the expulsions/censure of the Tennessee Three.
Zooey Zephyr was barred from the Montana House of Representatives, to which she was duly elected by her constituents, for “breaking decorum.”1 Yet Zephyr’s case was absent from all the major news roundups I read this morning. It’s time to change that. Just as Zephyr said, "I am here today to stand up for the rights of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity or expression. We must continue to fight for equality and justice for all, and we cannot allow discrimination to go unchecked." We too must stand up for the LGBTQ+ community.
Video from Washington Post. Watch her entire speech.
Zephyr's case has sparked protests and rallies across Montana, with many people showing their support for her and calling for an end to discrimination against transgender individuals. The Montana ACLU has also filed a lawsuit on her behalf, arguing that the dress code policy is unconstitutional and violates her rights as a transgender woman.
Let’s flood social media with videos of Zephyr’s speech, of the rallies to support her, of the anti-trans and misogynist words of the Montana State speaker.
Also, let’s flood Montana Republicans’ phones with calls on her behalf. We must lift her up utilize this moment as one of a series of high profile moments that demonstrate just how extreme, anti-democratic, and hateful MAGA is across the country.
This week on the podcast I’m talking to Jess Craven, author of Chop Wood, Carry Water, a daily newsletter that gives us all small actions to take every single day. The episode will focus on how everyday Americans can take concrete actions to protect our freedoms.
None of us can stay silent. We all must stand up, break decorum, act up, and pitch
a damn fit. Because first MAGA is trying to eliminate (yes, this is genocide)
trans people, especially children.
Trans children are all our children. Seriously. Want an example? My kiddo is in 9th grade. Out of his group of friends of about 15, at least 8 are trans or gender expansive. This isn’t any different in places where trans kids are less accepted. Those kids are just as trans, but they’re scared, they lie to their parents, and, according to the Trevor Project, “Nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide and LGBTQ youth of color reported higher rates than their white peers” last year.
So whatever our gender or sexual identity, color, religion, we’ve got to stand up together and fight the fascism, trans genocide, and anti-LGBTQ+ hate bills taking place in red states like Indiana across the country.
New York Times Gift Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/us/zooey-zephyr-transgender-montana-house.html?unlocked_article_code=ZOR_ewnPNXPToL0MvwzGMpUNlD2ukKcTwWy0QE8QXxitajfK6zJVdSSqxyP7CWq2YTn6ebq85j7Vo55zsgNltQbJugo5IWT-ogdzZuxKFBDrvH1-MWBcDp5PiToulTa2JyKf9FMiZNbip8XmtAyl_nTUC4un8eN_awNszOEMnD57jusBn1awa7qisdalSoQH-5ZsFAmR2bE9Qr-VLptRfU18MbH7KaAkeJjIL5EWODSnj4zZMdRpF2ezBieGmYYOgqtMl6C5iTDogNHJxWHCc1YvBQ7RcSp7emCatHzkcG6y3uPDFz2g0iKnMwxoFv0XL0tEczbUz13jeY1Z6HYZVrO_V-m-wrqblQDM&giftCopy=3_Independent&smid=url-share