May 2025 Update
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What Does Safety Look Like When the State Isn’t Listening?
In Oklahoma, harm happens every day—and the people in power keep trying to solve it with cages.
“Some people think the abolitionist horizon is a destination that we reach, where human beings, if they continue to exist as human beings, don’t do harm. I don’t believe that. I think that humans, as long as we’re still humans, are going to harm each other. The difference is we will have other ways of addressing harm that are not prisons, policing, and surveillance.” — Mariame Kaba: Abolition is a Collective Vision (Interview with the Nation 2021)
This May, as we honor International Workers’ and the power of collective action, we’re reminded that abolition isn’t about pretending harm will disappear — it’s about building real alternatives to systems that only deepen it. Just like the labor movements that gave us the eight-hour work day and safer workplace conditions, abolition is rooted in the demand that no one should be disposable — not workers, not neighbors, not immigrants, not 2SLGBTQ+ people, not people being criminalized, not people surviving the prison industrial complex.
We’re not calling for perfection, I’m not sure anyone is. When we dream of liberation, we know that as long as there are humans there will also be strife and struggle. What we’re demanding is a political and economic shift — away from punishment and towards care. Away from surveillance, toward solidarity. This month, and every month, we continue the fight for no new fines, no new crimes, and no new jails — because every investment in cages is a divestment from the future we deserve.
It is particularly resonant as we think about a new lens of criminalization advanced to the governor’s desk by the Oklahoma Legislature today targeting drag performers, but also in the new proposed criminalization of marijuana, of punishment as the enforcement mechanism to deny kids access to resources that help provide accountability for folks in power causing harm in schools, as the way our state policy makers decide to respond to most anything. Neither crime nor punishment is a measurement of harm, rather they are mechanisms of control. And it's that control that keeps us from being free.
We've been thinking about what it means to be governed by people who respond to harm not with care or curiosity, but with punishment. In communities across this state, we see it constantly: in jails filled with people who haven’t been convicted of a crime, wrapped in fines that become lifelong debt, combined with sentencing that keep folks incarcerated longer in Oklahoma than just about anywhere else. The Oklahoma legislature tells us it's doing this to keep us safe—but we know the truth. Safety doesn’t come from criminalization. It comes from connection, from care, from curiosity, and from meeting people’s needs.
And yet, this legislative session—as in so many before it—those in power are still trying to pass laws that punish instead of provide resources. Still relying on fines and fees instead of investing in housing, mental health care, public education, or harm reduction, or..or ..or. us. Still writing new crimes into law, even when there are already nearly 700 felonies on the books in Oklahoma. Still relying on wealth-based detention and wealth-based mechanisms of punishment that allow rich folks to continue to live their lives as usual, while causing an unbelievable domino effect of harms from job loss to housing loss to family separation for folks without the same economic means.
This is why we say: No new crimes. No new fines. No new jails.
“Even as the legislature has passed reform measures… it has always added new felonies and increased punishments in statute. Oklahoma’s system of fines and fees has created a reality where people often face life-long debt and repercussions from even a single interaction with the criminal legal system… Rather, they are often the very conditions which trap people in a revolving door of incarceration and debt.”
— Nicole McAfee, “No New Fines, No New Crimes (ACLU of Oklahoma Blog 2021)”
We’re asking lawmakers to stop making things worse while we are fighting to keep our communities intact. Because adding more criminal charges doesn’t stop harm. Creating new fines doesn’t make people safer. Building a new jail won’t fix the crisis of over-incarceration—it will just expand it.
This state has spent decades caging people instead of caring for them. But a new building with better air flow doesn’t change what a jail is. It doesn’t undo the violence it enacts. And it doesn’t address why so many people are locked inside in the first place—poverty, over-policing, racism, lack of access to basic resources.
What if we stopped building more cages—and started building something different?
I envision a future where safety isn’t defined by who gets locked up, but by how well our communities are supported. Where resources like health care, housing, nourishing food, and transportation aren’t rare luxuries, but fundamental rights. Where the question we ask isn’t “what new punishment can we create?” but “how do we keep each other safe without throwing people away?”
That’s the future abolitionists are fighting for. And it’s one rooted in love, not fear. In care, not cages. One that includes you in it.
We know that the path toward liberation doesn’t run through the state legislature. And we know our people can’t afford to wait. So this month, as we fight for a future free of criminalization, we’re asking you: What does real safety look like in your life? What could we build together if we stopped asking permission from people who were never going to protect us?
While we dream of the future where we’re all abolitionists, we’re asking you to join us at this starting point: no new crimes, no new fines. Let’s stop enabling the harm of the systems, of the state, of the status quo, so we can begin to do the work of freedom.
With hope, solidarity, and action,
Mauree Turner (they/them) - Director of Digital Organizing & Communications
Nicole McAfee (they/she) - Executive Director
Important Links and updates:
2025 Love Letters to trans Oklahomans
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our 2025 Love Letters to Trans Oklahomans campaign! We had an overflow of love and got to share those with community throughout April. Check out the full compilation for some queer and trans joy!
We’re Looking For Interns!
We're looking for a new cohort of interns! Are you a young person passionate about 2SLGBTQ+ issues? This might be the job for you! Click the button below for the application and more information.
May Volunteer Training & Coworking Space
Come and see how you can make a difference for 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans through our work!
We've got a couple of opportunities this month for you to get connected with volunteering. Join us on May 13th from 6-7pm on Zoom for an official volunteer training and/or join us on May 20th from 306pm for our Volunteer Co-Working Space! You can work on projects with other folks or get plugged in about volunteer efforts.
May Educator & Caregiver Community Groups
Join us for our May Community Groups! We'll be chatting about upcoming community events, the 2025 Legislative Session, and how we can best support you during this time.
Full Schedule:
Educators, Teachers, & School Staff: Tue, May 13th, 4:30 - 5:30 pm
Parents, Guardians, & Caregivers: Wed, May 14th, 4:30 - 5:30 pm
Excavating Our Closets
Space is VERY limited to our upcoming oral histories workshop with RCHP and OKPAN! Sign up now to secure your spot to engage with local queer history. Youth and young adults ages 13-24 are welcome and food & refreshments will be provided. Let's fight to keep our histories alive!
May Student Group
Come on down for our May student group! You can join us at any time on the 15th to chat, get community updates, or get support.
Lunch & Learn Webinars
Join us this first Friday in May for our final (for now!) Lunch & Learn! We want to know your thoughts on how to improve these sessions to better serve our communities. We hope to see you there!