When I think about all of the layers of myself that I have found language for, and invited people in to see, sharing that I’m autistic always feels the most vulnerable. In part, because, like when I share that I’m nonbinary, it seems to invite questions about the validity of who I am (are you really autistic, you don’t seem autistic). It also opens me up to the fear that the rising tide of eugenics and ableism will lead folks to decide that as a disabled person, I cannot be trusted to lead an organization or do the work. And I continue to push past that invitation to harm and fear, because ultimately, like a disproportionate number of 2SLGBTQ+ folks, I am autistic (fun fact: research suggests autistic people are up to 3x more likely than allistics to be 2SLGBTQ+). And, like a disproportionate number of people marginalized by gender, I didn’t get my diagnosis until I was an adult. A process that was painful and expensive and an excellent place to remind you that self diagnosis is incredibly valid. I live at the intersection of so much expansiveness and so much harm, and that’s what I want to sit in this autism acceptance day (the Autistic Self Advocacy Network correction to centering today on “awareness”, and also is a great chance to lift up the organizing for the Autistic Self Advocacy Union).

One of the things that keeps me grounded as we fight for liberation, is remembering those who came before us and what we are fighting for. Our fight is to be free, freedom of our own making. Freedom for us all. We get to live proudly and out loud in the bodies we choose. This continued fight is tied to life and joy - the ability to access it, create it, and preserve it. Joy is a part of our liberation work and we can't let the current authoritarians that rule the American Empire think they get to take our joy or our lives. We build our communities anyway. We make joy, even and especially amidst the darkness. We fight and we fail, and we keep living and striving towards that liberated future by freeing one another in the present.

Love Letters to Trans Oklahomans - 2025

On Saturday (3.8.25) Mahmoud was abducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from his home, and forced to leave his wife who is 8-months pregnant. He is currently being detained by Immigration Customs & Enforcement (ICE), and was disappeared from his home in New York to a facility in Louisiana, cut off from his family, attorneys, and community, in an intentional tactic by the state to escalate despair, and find a more favorable judge than in his home jurisdiction. These are all parts of enforced disappearance, which the US government has predominantly promoted and used against people outside of the boundaries of the United States. 

March 2025 Monthly Update

Last year, as our team sat down to plan a Gala to bring community together, center joy, and kick off 10 years of the org that has grown and evolved to everything that Freedom Oklahoma is today, we decided that a rebrand was in order. What had previously been the Unity Gala felt too much like an endorsement of respectability politics, the request that folks be nice to the people actively trying to harm 2STGNC+ people in Oklahoma for the sake of unity. So, we launched the Freedom Futures Gala, with a theme of Freedom Futurism. Because we knew that in a moment where it can be hard to see a way through, we all needed the joy not only of space together, but of a glimpse of a future on our terms, where joy is at the center, and we’re all a part of it.

Last night Aubrey Dameron's family confirmed that after six years, she is missing no longer. We sit in grief and devastation alongside her family, her tribe, and her community, in the acknowledgement that her life was taken far too soon. Rest in Pride, Aubrey.

February 2025 Monthly Update

As we enter February 2025 and mark the start of our celebration of 10 years of freedom dreaming at Freedom Oklahoma, it’s my honor to connect with you in this space as the newest member of the Freedom Oklahoma team, where I get to pick up some of the work of connecting and updating and collaborating with you through the fights in front of us. 

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.