ID: photo of wildflowers in Oklahoma with text “July”

In one of Frederick Douglass’s many brilliant orations, he posed the question, what to the negro is the fourth of July? It’s something I think about this time of year more and more. If you’re newly grappling with disentangling yourself from the myth of this nation on the Fourth of July, I offer you this:

May we live to recognize when what we’ve been sold as freedom is in fact tyranny in different trappings. May we recognize that independence is not so important as when we thrive interdependently. May we recommit ourselves to the fight for our collective liberation. May we live to celebrate the fall of every empire.

We have been here before and we carry the memories of toppling the structures of power from our ancestors, in our DNA.

*ID: photo of clouds at sunset with text “Two Spirit, trans, and queer people have always called this land home.”*

May we commit ourselves to loving this land in all of its physicality, not as a celebration of its arbitrary borders, of its bloodlust and genocide, but as this place for which there have always been caretakers, and where we all have the responsibility to heed the wisdom of those stewards, of the Indigenous people who have lived on this land since time immemorial.

May we work to disentangle ourselves from the ongoing practices of settler colonization and re-Indigenize our relationship to the land.

With love, from this land, which we call home. From this land, which belongs to no one, and is our collective responsibility to care for. On this land, where there have always been and will always be Two Spirit, trans, and queer people.

In Solidarity,

Cole McAfee

they/she

July 2026 Updates

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July 2026 Updates *

*ID: digital collage with floral elements and text “hands off trans healthcare help us tell the story of the impact of SB 904”*

This year, the Oklahoma Legislature passed SB 904, an expansive attack on gender affirming care for all ages. And, as the bill threatened, the vague, broad language is causing an abundance of overcompliance, impacting access to necessary medical care for trans Oklahomans of all ages.

We've heard from some of you, and as we continue to try and understand the true impact of this policy, we need your help. Would you tell us about how SB 904 is impacting you? This is an internal effort for aggregate data, and the chance to connect folks with future resources if and as they become available. You can tell us about the impact to you here, and find out more about SB 904 on the health page on our website. Thanks for your help.

*ID: photo of beads in a trans pride color palette arranged in the shape of Oklahoma alongside tools to make earrings and a Freedom Oklahoma logo.*

In 2026, we’ve been lucky to find folks willing to invest in intentional spaces where we can craft liberation in community. In May, we joined Culture Hub Collective for a bead and tea for Trans and Two Spirit Liberation, with support from Kendra Wilson Clements, Sarah Adams, and Morgan Adams. Over a delicious meal prepared by JuneBug Catering, we beaded together, and had conversations about Two Spirit and trans+ identities. Along with our bead and tea, we’ve held collaborative zine workshops and trainings, and participated in film screenings at Oklahoma Film Exchange and at deadCenter. As we take time as a staff to reflect on the first half of the year, and rest and set goals towards the last half, we hope that more intentional space for art and advocacy will be available. If you have an art project you’d like to collaborate on, let us know. We’d love to see what we can make happen together!

Photo by Katrina Ward for Freedom Oklahoma.

*ID: photo of a disco ball with a Freedom Oklahoma logo and repeating text “Out of Office”*

In early July, you'll encounter out of office messages from members of the Freedom Oklahoma team. We realize it's a privilege to do this work, and we take the responsibility of it very seriously. And with that, we hope to model radical vulnerability and space for rest. Because this work is heavy and exhausting, and it cannot be done if our shared expectation is rooted in unsustainable levels of performance and burnout. We have established the practice of closing our office for a week in July to let our team recover from the often grueling pace and content of January-June each year. Ahead of then traveling as a team to join our colleagues from across the movement at Equality Federation's annual Leadership Conference. Thanks for your patience as we're less available than usual during this time.

We know the work never stops, and we're especially grateful for everyone to allow us this moment of pause, reflection, and recovery, as we look towards a busy second half of the year. We're grateful to do this work with you.

Photo by Katrina Ward for Freedom Oklahoma

*ID: Oklahomans for privacy background with a photo of an automatic license plate reader camera and text “Tell City Council: NO ALPRs in OKC”*

Surveillance does not make us safe. At the last OKC Council Meeting for June, Oklahomans for Privacy told City Council members that almost 800 folks and counting have added their names to a petition demanding an end to the contract with Flock surveillance cameras and other automatic license plate readers (ALPRs).

When the council next convenes on July 7, we anticipate the vote on the Flock contract renewal will be on the agenda. Lend your voice to the effort to #GetTheFlockOut of OKC.

You can take action by:

📱📨 Contacting your city council member to let them know you don't want them to renew the contract with Flock or any other ALPRs.

💑 Organizing your people by sharing information about the dangers of ALPRs, and the opportunity to take action, including signing up for the Home Base Oklahoma action list.

📝 Signing the petition (available here) and sharing it with others to sign

🗣️ Making a plan to come to the council meeting on July 7 to make it clear, we the people want Flock out of here!