December 2023 Update
ID: "November Monthly Update. www.freedomoklahoma.org/news" on a background image of 3 people roller skating on one foot while holding hands in a circle and wearing Pride flags and Nonbinary Pride flags in their hair. There are blue and orange lines and dots on the left and right of the image and the FOK logo is to the right.
It’s World AIDS Day, and there’s still urgent work to be done in Oklahoma
As a practice, I have spent the last few Decembers reflecting on all that has happened in the last twelve months, while setting intentions for my year ahead, ending with a word or phrase that captures how I want to approach the next calendar year. (Grateful always for the ways Lauren Brazzle Zuniga has helped me refine that practice.) For 2023, I landed on the theme Tending Magic. I knew that as hard as 2022 had been, 2023 was going to present so many more challenges. And, even in the face of so many terrible things, there are moments of magic. Chances to say yes to joy. Opportunities to be with people I love in person. Moments to celebrate and grieve and learn and replenish ourselves, as individuals and as a community. Spaces where we can better learn to ask for support. Spaces where we can build forward, even as we fight to maintain the level of safety that already is inferior to our needs. I wanted to focus on how to grow, to tend to those moments, those spaces, and the people in them. I manifested mending and movement and sustainability. With a commitment to not just speaking hard truths out loud, but soft ones too, words of love and support and concern and grief. I set out to build something safe and special for all of us? Together, in collaboration with all of you.
And there are plenty of examples of the ways in which we tended to that community magic. But as we kick off the last month of 2023 with the annual observance of World AIDS Day today, December 1, I want to talk about the particular magic that is coming together to work towards HIV decriminalization in Oklahoma. But before we dig into the magic of the movement, let’s start with the basics.
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes HIV infection. If untreated, HIV may cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the most advanced stage of HIV infection. HIV attacks and destroys infection-fighting CD4 cells (CD4 T lymphocytes) of the immune system. The loss of these cells makes it difficult for the body to fight off infections, illnesses, and certain cancers. Without treatment, HIV can gradually destroy the immune system, causing health decline and the onset of AIDS. With treatment, the immune system can recover. As soon as documented cases of AIDS reached Oklahoma, the legislature immediately began hearing proposals to criminalize those with the virus, with the first proposal recommending life in prison as a punishment…simply for a health condition. Decades later, rooted in stigma and out of alignment with public health practices and interests, Oklahoma still has HIV criminalization laws on the books and still uses them to incarcerate people living with HIV (PLHIV). Oklahoma’s laws punish behavior that poses no or negligible risk of HIV transmission, such as spitting, biting, and oral sex. The laws incorrectly assume that an HIV diagnosis is a “death sentence,” when in reality it is a manageable medical condition. A person on effective treatment can have a near-normal life expectancy.
The laws further stigma, reduce access to best practices, and unfairly target people engaged in survival economies, such as sex work. You can be sentenced to up to five years in prison for not disclosing your status before consensual sex, even with no intent to harm anyone, even if there was no risk of harm, and no harm resulted. In Oklahoma, having a felony on your record means restrictions on your ability to hold public office, and access to benefits like food stamps, public housing, and more. As one of the states with the highest rates of new cases of HIV in rural areas, we should be focused on the toolbox of proven mitigation measures that help PLHIV access treatment while engaging in better education and access to preventative measures to disrupt spread. Criminalization that furthers stigma and reduces access to safe sex measures, while some policymakers simultaneously work to eliminate any sex education curriculum, is not among those best practices.
And the magic of this movement in this moment, is that folks are coming together, from across and beyond Oklahoma, to name the urgency of decriminalizing HIV, finding support and relief for those who have been previously been criminalized, and working to reduce stigma while expanding access to preventative measures, testing, treatment, community, and best practices. You can see that movement building in action at our community interim study held this November in conjunction with Rep Mauree Turner and the Equality Federation, with additional support and resources from the Center for HIV Law and Policy, the Williams Institute, the Latino Community Development Agency, and the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board.
Image Description: Rep Mauree Turner in a white button-down, vest, and mask, stands next to a screen and in front of 3 windows, presenting to a room full of seated audience members at the community interim study on HIV decriminalization.
This year, AIDS Walk OKC celebrated 25 years of AIDS walks, right here in Oklahoma, engaging in community building and education. We have direct service partners across the state working on education, testing, and support. What’s missing from the work is advocacy, and urgency, to shift away from outdated, harmful criminalization practices, towards best practice solutions. HIV is not a crime. But in Oklahoma, it is still criminalized. This World AIDS Day, will you commit to joining our effort to change that? Help us tend to the magic of growing our movement, building power, and doing our part to see the AIDS epidemic end in our lifetimes.
In Solidarity,
Nicole McAfee (they/she)
Executive Director
Important Links and updates:
December Community Groups
As we barrel towards the end of the year, we know community can be extra critical. We’re holding our monthly community gatherings, and we welcome you, whether this is your first or fiftieth. As always, we encourage participants to join us and share their experiences, needs, and joys with the group. We look forward to sharing space in community with others. Please come when and as you are able. We look forward to seeing you there!
Full Schedule:
Teachers, Educators, & School Staff: Tuesday 12/12 4-5:30 PM
Parents, Guardians, & Caregivers: Wednesday 12/13 4:30-6 PM
Students & Youth: Thursday 12/14 4:30-5:30 PM
Image Description: “virtual 2SLGBTQ+ Community Groups Educators, Teachers, & School Staff: Tue, Dec 12th, 4 - 5:30 pm Parents, Guardians, & Caregivers: Wed, Dec 13th, 4:30 - 6 pm Students & Youth: Thurs, Dec 14th, 4:30 - 5:30 pm” on a dark blue background with the Freedom Oklahoma logo, an orange abstract star, and a cutout image of 2 adults and a child smiling and sitting together–only one adult visible from the front.
Thank you for your Giving Tuesday support
We're so grateful to each of you who gave to support our Giving Tuesday effort, as well as to all of you who supported the other organizers and efforts here on the ground, across our movement to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive in and beyond Oklahoma.
Missed out on Giving Tuesday? You can always give online at https://www.freedomoklahoma.org/donate
Image Description: graphic with text "Thank You Your gifts help support our work to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive." There's a photo of folks marching in Freedom Oklahoma T-shirts at OK Pride Alliance Pride in OKC. The background is decorated with circles, a grid, and a Freedom Oklahoma logo.
Out of Office
This work is deeply personal to all of our staff, and we believe that in order to best serve our broader community, we have to honor ourselves in this work with rest when we can. It has been an incredibly heavy year for all of us. We know that a new year means a new legislative session and big fights in front of us. Our office will be closed for the final two weeks of 2023 to prepare for that work. If you have the capacity to grant other people (or yourself) room to rest, we hope you'll take the opportunity to do just that.
Even as we rest, we know this time of year brings unique challenges for many of our community members. We've compiled a list of resources specific to 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans that we hope can help you in this season and beyond. You can find them at https://www.freedomoklahoma.org/resources
We'll be back online in 2024!
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Free Palestine
While we issued this statement earlier, we wanted to again lift up these words as a reminder of the ways our liberation is bound together.
Many people want to try to shift a conversation about what is happening in Gaza to religious intolerance or hatred, but we know that rhetoric only serves to drive up rates of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. This is not a war or a conflict. It is a genocide. The Palestinian people, including civilians, a majority of whom are children, and media based in Gaza, are being systematically killed, disabled, and unhoused by the Israeli government.
Some folks might ask why we, an organization whose focus is largely on 2SLGBTQ+ folks in Oklahoma, would take what might be perceived as a political risk and make a statement about Palestine. We know what it is to have genocide targeting your community glossed over as “not your issue,” or to have the talking points remain fixed on religious dichotomies when there is a vibrant range of people impacted by the harm being wielded by those in power. We’re experiencing the stages of genocide targeting Two Spirit, transgender, and gender nonconforming+ folks unfold in real-time in Oklahoma. And what we’re seeing in Gaza is genocide, too. We will not watch on silently as our state and our country actively support the further murder of Palestinian people, and others trapped in the living prison that is Gaza. 2SLGBTQ+ liberation requires Palestinian liberation.
For our full statement and links for information and actions in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, visit https://www.freedomoklahoma.org/news/freepalestine
Image Description: white background with the text "We oppose oppression, colonization, and displacement of people in every form. Our liberation is bound together. And it is our duty to organize in solidarity towards that future." with a light blue highlight for the text "our liberation is bound together" and a Freedom Oklahoma logo in the bottom right.
Trans advocacy coalition of Oklahoma survey
Our friends at Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma (TACO) are rolling out a survey to better understand 2STGNC+ needs across Oklahoma. You can access their survey at https://t.ly/EEOmo and can find out more about TACO at https://linktr.ee/transadvocacyok
Image description: pale pink background with text “Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma Presents: State-Wide Community Survey Are you and Oklahoman whose gender identity, expression, or experience is different from the norm? Are you 13 or older? We want to determine community support needs for financial and other programs. Please fill out this survey and send it to anyone else you know!” https://t.ly/EEOmo in the bottom left is a QR code that links to the web address listed above with a graphic to the right of six people of different ages, races, and abilities, posing together.
One Last Bedlam
The Oklahoma State Cowboys may have clinched the win on the field, but with your support, the University of Oklahoma clinched the Bedlam Bragging Rights victory. In our fundraising challenge, we all won, and we’re grateful to you for accommodating our mediocre photoshop skills and efforts to help support our year-round work to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ folks have the safety to thrive. Want to take a victory lap in our bragging rights challenge? You can always give at https://www.freedomoklahoma.org/donate
Image Description: photoshopped sports poster with the heads of Freedom Oklahoma staff members superimposed on the bodies of OU football players, behind a football. Image text "There's only one Freedom Oklahoma Give Through November 4 To Take Home Bedlam Bragging Rights" with a Freedom Oklahoma logo and horns down emoji.