March 2023 Update
ID: “March Monthly Update” www.freedomoklahoma.org/news and the FOK logo. The background is a picture from a trans rally at the Oklahoma Capitol with a light blue overlay with orange and blue lines and dots
Trans people deserve joy and the safety to celebrate trans excellence 365 days a year.
Every year on March 31 we celebrate the accomplishments and victories of Two Spirit, transgender, gender nonconforming, and broader gender diverse community (2STGNC+) while celebrating the work still ahead to build safety for 2STGNC+ people with Transgender Day of Visibility. As an unprecedented number of attacks across the country and across Oklahoma target transgender people, especially transgender kids, we wanted to acknowledge how unfair it is to celebrate visibility without safety. How the standard of letting folks see you in order to be celebrated leaves out those most vulnerable and most harmed.
So, as we begin March, we want to ask you to be visible in your support for transgender people. We want you to show your love through action. Because trans folks aren’t your advocacy cause or reason to feel good. We’re people. People who have always been and will always be in Oklahoma. People who deserve joy, and the safety to celebrate trans excellence 365 days a year.
Join us this month and beyond in giving trans people their flowers in real time, showing our love for trans Oklahomans through persistent action, and building towards the future where we all have the safety to thrive.
Will you preorder a protect trans joy shirt from Soft Hand, designed by Alaina Hunt and printed by McKenzie & Co Shirts in OKC, with proceeds benefiting Freedom Oklahoma, to wear your support out loud?
Photo of white t-shirts at McKenzie & Co Shirts in Oklahoma City printed in dark blue or trans pride colors with imagery of flora and text “protect trans joy” designed by Alaina Hunt for Soft Hand, with proceeds benefiting Freedom Oklahoma.
We know, even as we do this work as urgently as we can, we struggle to match the urgency of those advancing harm. One of the newest attacks on trans visibility comes from our state department of education, where State Superintendent and State Secretary of Education Ryan Walters has proposed a rule that would make school officials out students to their parents, with no regard for their safety or well-being. When we ask you to take action, we mean through tough conversations, consistent outreach, and public comment as often as it is available. Will you join us by sending in feedback on this mandatory outing rule before the March 17 deadline, or RSVP to join us in giving public comment at the in-person hearing on March 17 at 10 AM?
Finally, we hope throughout this month and beyond, you’ll join us in uplifting trans folks as often as you can. Through mutual aid, words of affirmation, advocacy and outreach, and support of local transgender day of visibility and other trans-centered and trans-led events. Help us collect love letters to trans Oklahomans and other expressions of love for trans folks leading up to March 31.
Take care of yourself and one another. Take care of our 2STGNC+ siblings especially. We know this is a long fight. But not a new one. We’ve beat this rhetoric and this harm before. And, together, we can defeat it again as we join our power in building a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive.
In solidarity,
Nicole McAfee (they/she)
Executive Director
Important Links and updates:
YAM Update
YAM 2023 is moving into March:
We’ll be publicly showcasing all art and story submissions in the Capitol towards the end of the month. If you would like to speak at this event, please contact us at info@freedomoklahoma.org. We’ll be cultivating a space to share Two Spirit, trans, and queer truth, voice, joy, and hope! We are especially grateful to all the young Oklahomans who submitted showcase pieces to be displayed at the capitol during our community hearing. It’s not too late to submit your own work for display! If you are 25 or under and want our legislators to know of your experiences or how you are showing up for a better Oklahoma, then fill out the submission link below.
So much gratitude to DAOK, OPLC’s YAS, Amplify Tulsa’s YLC, and Foundations for Liberating Minds for partnering with us during YAM. We are honored to share space with you in making Oklahoma a better place for all Oklahomans!
YAM 2023 logo on a white background
March Community Groups
Join us March 7 - 9 at our virtual 2SLGBTQ+ Community Groups for Educators, Parents/Guardians, and Students! We hold this space for you and your needs, so we’ll chat through legislative updates, YAM, and anything else you need.
Schedule:
Teachers/School Staff: Tuesday, 3/7 from 4-6 pm
Parents/Guardians: Wednesday, 3/8 from 5-6 p
Students: Thursday, 3/9 from 5-6 pm
"virtual 2SLGBTQ+ Community Groups. Teachers/School Staff: Tuesday 3/7 Parents/Guardians: Wednesday 3/8 Students: Thursday, 3/9" on a dark blue background with the FOK logo and an arch-shaped image of people wearing Pride flags at the Oklahoma Capitol.
2023 Legislative Tracker
The Legislative process was designed to be confusing and inaccessible–so we know that it can be difficult to keep up with things. We’ve created a Legislative Tracker for use in the 2023 session. At minimum, it will be updated every week by end of day Friday. It contains definitions to help you understand the legislative process, as well as bill status and positions for legislation being tracked by Freedom Oklahoma. We hope that this can be a helpful tool to stay informed during session!
“2023 Legislative Tracker” with an orange arrow pointing to the text. Background is a picture from a trans rally outside of the Oklahoma Capitol with a blue overlay and the FOK logo.
Thank you to The Jones Assembly
Through financial support, we can continue to build a better Oklahoma for queer and trans Oklahomans throughout the year. Last month, our friends at The Jones Assembly held a fundraiser in support of our cause, and we can’t thank the organizers, venue, and donors enough. With supporters like them, our fight persists.
We’re so grateful for your support and care–THANK YOU!
White background with circles in the top left and bottom right corners. At the top it says “Thank you!” and in the center is a black circle with The Jones Assembly logo.