We want to start by saying that many true reports of harm seem to happen because of the dangerous mix of confusion around overestimated political power we fall in line for, underestimates power in our communities we don't tap into, and oppressive systems hoping both of these things remain constant - that's how fascism survives and grows. They get more power when we actively don’t use ours.

This may be the first piece of anti-trans legislation entertained by the Oklahoma Legislature this year, but we're unfortunately certain it won't be the last. And, as much as lawmakers work to create hostile environments for 2STGNC+ folks, it doesn't change the fact that we have always been and will always be in Oklahoma. And we'll keep fighting, even in spaces where the hatred of us is enshrined in explicit policy, for the future where we all have the safety to thrive. No one can deprive us of our dignity.

January 2025 Monthly Update

So, as I have thought about 2025, I have engaged in my usual practice of note taking around words and sentiments that resonate with me, that I keep coming back to. And I found myself particularly stuck on Woody Guthrie's 33rd (and final) resolution from his 1942 diary, Wake Up and Fight. As a 29 year-old looking to fight a rising tide of fascism that feels maybe too familiar today, there's something about that plain spoken commitment that resonated with me as a 35 year old in his home state staring down fascism’s newest and growing wave. So, for me, 2025 is Wake Up and Fight: We've got Futures to Dream and Liberation to Win. 

December 2024 Monthly Update

I’ve tried and failed to start this month’s newsletter a number of times. Because I want to give you the words that help collectively shift us from reacting to action, and also the words that soothe us through our grief, and allow us to find softness through the rage. But I don't have those words. Because I am tired. And angry. And some days overwhelmed. Some days afraid. What I find as my North Star through this time of turmoil is the reminder that I don't have to do any of this alone. 

Yesterday the Department of Education released a letter to Owasso Public Schools detailing a number of ways in which they failed to comply with Title IX, the result of an investigation following a complaint launched after Nex Benedict died the day following being beaten in a school bathroom after months of being bullied for his* gender identity. It is certainly an important step to have a federal institution acknowledge the harms caused by Owasso Public School’s failure to comply with Title IX–compliance failures that stretch far beyond Nex’s case and his death. While Owasso Public Schools in their initial response has acknowledged their failure to comply with Title IX, their continued refusal to acknowledge their role in the death of Nex Benedict shows how far removed their response is from accountability. And, as we all sit with the letter from the Federal Department of Education, the list of next steps may feel far removed from any sense of justice, to the extent that it is even possible when a school has contributed to the conditions that resulted in the death of one of their students.

There are a lot of unknowns and heavy days ahead. And there's no quick or easy way through the anxiety we're all feeling about now. So, let's acknowledge that and start with how we're getting through today, through this week, through November.

November 2024 Monthly Update

November is a heavy month for so many of us. There’s some sense of despair up and down the ballot as election day nears. There’s Trans Week of Awareness leading up to the annual Trans Day of Remembrance, where we continue to evolve our revolutionary practice of collective grieving and recommitment to safety. And, it can often be a check box of naming violence without any room to actually share that grief or safety building.

“The Houses Our Ancestors Built,” a guest blog by Oklahoma Queer History

October 2024 Monthly Update

Every year, as October begins, we celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ history month. An exercise that has become grounding for all of our team, in expanding our knowledge of the 2SLGBTQ+ folks who came before us, who fought and loved before us, who paved the way for us, as our work now will become history for future generations. Marsha Pay-It-No-Mind Johnson said, “History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” We each have a responsibility, not just a role, in our community history. And so we’re kicking off this month, focusing on what a commitment to keep one another safe means, what it means to build a future where every 2SLGBTQ+ person has the safety to thrive. So, we’ll ground our history in our commitment to the future.