Celebrate The History the Oklahoma Legislature Doesn’t Want You to Know
Image description: a black, rainbow, white, brown, and black vertical stripe. The black stripe farthest to the right is thicker than the rest and extends in the middle, covering half of the colored stripes, forming a sideways "T." There is text on the black "T" shape that reads "LGBTQ2S+ History Month 2021" and a white Freedom Oklahoma logo to the right
“We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating The History the Oklahoma Legislature Doesn’t Want You to Know by learning with us, amplifying those lessons, and sharing the pieces of history you know along the way.”
- Nicole McAfee, Executive Director
This year more so than many in recent memory, we have seen the adage that knowledge is power in action. Through data that shows the collective memory and knowledge of the AIDS crisis has driven the LGBTQ+ community to lead the way in community care through COVID vaccination rates, the ways that those in power in our own state have tried to suppress knowledge through legislation like HB 1775, and the 100th-anniversary commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre revealing how much mainstream historical narratives continue to be dominated by cishet white perspectives and feelings, it is evident that we have more to learn, and much of that knowledge is rooted in our communities. So this LGBTQ2S+ history month at Freedom Oklahoma, we’re celebrating the history the Oklahoma Legislature doesn’t want you to know.
We’ll honor the fact that two spirit (an intentionally chosen pan-Indigenous term used to capture the Indigenous people who have always existed beyond colonized binaries of gender and sexuality, although many tribes have their own language for this) people have always been on this land. Before settler-colonizers came here, they were able to thrive and were not only accepted but often held intentional roles within their tribe. Learning that history, as well as the way tribal citizens have worked to decolonize rights and liberties for two spirit people in modern government structures, is the work of all of our community.
Thinking about the intersections of our work as we approach the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll make space to consider why it is critical our LGBTQ2S+ communities show up in fights to abolish ICE and deconstruct arbitrary borders. We’ll join the people at Against Carceral Feminism Oklahoma in talking about past organizing tactics around hate crime policy, and how many of those wins happen at the expense of those already most vulnerable to harm in the LGBTQ2S+ community, acknowledging the roots of this movement work in Black activism.
We’ll commit to learning and unlearning together, acknowledging that we can often do better, and that’s rooted in knowing better. We’ll also celebrate the LGBTQ2S+ centers in Oklahoma providing critical services, including the Diversity Center in Oklahoma City and Transpire in Tulsa. Our team at Freedom Oklahoma acknowledges that no one knows everything, but together we know (and can learn!) a lot.
We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating The History the Oklahoma Legislature Doesn’t Want You to Know by learning with us, amplifying those lessons, and sharing the pieces of history you know along the way.
Thanks for being history-makers as much as history-learners. Our future depends on it.