As June winds down and we reflect on Queer Liberation and its deep impact across movements, we acknowledge the growing resistance and violence against queer and trans communities across the globe right now.

Here in the US, anti-queer and trans hate from right-wing politicians and conservative religious groups are fueling over 400 bills to deny gender-affirming care, trans people’s right to live and move freely in public spaces, inclusive education in schools, people’s right to vote, and more.

In the face of mounting anti-LGBTQ attacks, queer resistance and creativity continues to thrive – inspiring and opening space for more possibilities, more radical futures, and more liberation.

We celebrate the joy that Queerness offers, extends, generates & radiates for collective justice, liberation, and healing.

We open up this month’s newsletter by highlighting the leadership of Black and Indigenous Queer and Trans folks at the forefront of national LGBTQIA+ organizations for historic beginnings. We celebrate the lives, leadership, and work of Shelby Chestnut, Kierra Johnson, J. Gia Loving.

 

✨Shelby Chestnut (they/he) is the first Native trans Executive Director of Transgender Law Center and one of the first Native trans and two-spirit leaders to head a national LGBTQ organization. Check out this short video featuring Shelby share “Our Trans and Two-Spirit Community is Sacred and Valuable“.

✨Kierra Johnson (she/they) As a bisexual Black woman, Kierra is one of few out queer-identified women of color at the helm of a national LGBTQ organization serving as the Executive Director at The Task Force. Tune into The Queer Family Podcast to hear more about Kierra’s story on navigating motherhood, organizing & more.

✨J. Gia Loving (she/her) is a trans Latina, mother, community organizer, and the Co-executive Director of Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network (GSA) leading the next generation of trans, queer, and allied youth leaders. Check out Hispanic Star: Sylvia Rivera, co-written by Gia and Claudia Romo Edelman for young readers.

More Pride Wins & Joy 2023

 

🌈 5/22: Trans Prom Proved: Trans Youth Joy Is Unstoppable On May 22, over 50 trans and nonbinary youth from at least 18 states gathered in front the U.S. Capitol to throw a party and issue a manifesto.

🎉 6/21: A federal judge struck down Florida’s prohibition on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, the second decision to upend restrictions put into place at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

🎉 6/12: New York City protects access to gender-affirming care. New York is now among a dozen states that have laws protecting access to transition-related medical care for minors.

🎉 6/20: U.S. Starbucks workers join in a weeklong strike over stores not allowing Pride décor

🎉 6/26: Mexico City holds mass wedding & gender marker change ceremony to celebrate Pride

🌈 6/28: A federal judge has blocked a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.

🌈 Check out Waging Nonviolence’s interview with author, journalist, and activist Toshio Meronek about their book, Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary, about Miss Major.

🌈 Abortion Rights are Trans Rights One year after Dobbs, a record amount of anti-LGBT legislation has been unleashed across the country. What’s needed now—more than ever—is solidarity among marginalized genders.

🌈 The latest Where We Are, a visual coming-of-age series, captures of magic of Vista Hermosa Natural Park in Downtown Los Angeles where queer youth gather to create intimate and safe space together.