My mother, who worked at our county health department, opened my eyes to public health (and being nosey) at a very young age - television helped me fill in the gaps. So by the time HIV and AIDS rural outreach was coming to our health department I started learning more  about it on TV through programs like And The Band Played On and the Ryan White Story, but also through what I overheard in  the local health department break room (miss you girls). So I'll share with you some of the knowledge that I have about Ryan White. One, so that you'll understand a little bit about HIV and AIDS history in America, and two, in hopes to get you closer to the understanding that even in its best intended use, our criminal punishment system causes harm. Because it is just that - a punishment system. 

It’s November, and I don’t know about you, but as I look at both my personal budget, and our organizational budget, I am feeling the strain of increasing prices across the board. It’s tough. And it’s a time of year that demands a lot from each of us as we work to share community and camaraderie with one another, often over increasingly expensive meals, using increasingly unreliable transportation, in increasingly hostile environments. And so during a time of so much demand, I wanted to make sure to pause and offer my sincere gratitude to each of you. 

“When I think about the way I strive to show up in the work, I start from a place of knowledge strengthened by the work of my disabled ancestors, elders, and contemporaries who continue to help me grow in this space. Particularly to Mia Mingus, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (particularly their book Care Work), Robin Wall Kimmerer (especially Braiding Sweetgrass), Audre Lorde, Ndeye Oumou Sylla, Cole Arthur Riley, Marsha P. Johnson, Anna, and Tricia Hersey. I think about the ways my work is fundamentally different because of contemporaries like Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, and because of community like Katrina and Nate Ward, AC Facci, Anna Langhtorn, Mauree Turner, CJ Garcia, aurelius francisco, Jo Beth Hamon, Sarah Adams, Al Phillips Shinn, Kendra Wilson-Clements, and so many others.” Come on in and read a lil more..

When some of y’all joined us for our Freedom Futures Gala in February, as we kicked off 10 years of Freedom Oklahoma, we told you about some of the barriers that exist in trying to fundraise as a trans-led, trans-staffed organization. Specifically, we lifted up the research that tells us trans-led organizations are still only getting 4 cents to every $100 that’s coming from philanthropic foundations. 

And as we see more and more corporations pull their funding to any effort that might be seen as related to equity, diversity, or inclusion, in a field where trans-led and trans-centered work was already often excluded from funding access, it’s a tough time to try and fundraise to support long-term work. Particularly in a state where many folks wrote us off, long before Freedom Oklahoma even came to be.

None of us should have to be lucky to get the care we need.

Sugarcoating this moment feels disingenuous and a little impossible. So as we look to 2SLGBTQ+ history month, we’re thinking about the ways that our history can so often inform our present. Whether it’s the reminders we’ve been here before, the knowledge gained from generations before us, or the examples of the way we’ve still found joy through all of the bullshit…knowing 2SLGBTQ+ history, our intersectional movement history, can be life-giving. Its time for our October 2025 Newsletter…enter if you dare…

When I asked the folks at Freedom Oklahoma about what liberation could look like, I heard it looks like “bellies are full of food and laughter, where “we all linger after the party of over to help clean”, it feels like “warmth on your skin from the perfect day”, “having all your community needs met”, “no borders”. When I talked to folks outside of this tiny staff it sounded like a mix of “opportunity and abundance,” “room to breathe, to rest,” “freedom feels like a firefly. It's both so close you can feel the light but never will you catch it,” and “[I] haven’t felt free in a long time at work…”

By centering and serving the most marginalized and excluded members of our community with the least resources, we saw some of the folks with the most resources abandon our work. And long before corporations abandoned pride spaces, they became increasingly hesitant to give at any work like ours. That’s the nature of digging into liberatory work, unapologetically led-by 2STGNC+, disabled folks. And, while it means that it is not easy to fund our work, we've long been grateful for the ways community has stepped up to support us in resourcing a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive.

I first joined the Freedom Oklahoma team four years ago. It feels both like just yesterday and the longest four years of my life (but maybe the last four years have felt a little like that for everyone). In that time, we’ve ushered in monumental changes to the work…

One of the most difficult parts of being trans, is how inconvenient it can feel to ask the folks in our lives to see us and honor us wholly and in our dignity.