Freedom Oklahoma Responds to Executive Order 2021-24

Nov 10

November 10, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OKLAHOMA CITY – More than two weeks after the announcement by the Oklahoma State Department of Health that it had issued an amended X-gender marker birth certificate in accordance to a litigation settlement reached by the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office, Governor Stitt Monday issued an executive order furthering his attacks on Two Spirit, intersex, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and gender diverse people in Oklahoma. In response, Freedom Oklahoma issued the following statement:

The following is attributable to Nicole McAfee, Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director:

“Governor Stitt choosing to enshrine in executive disorder the level to which he was unaware of the settlement that resulted in Oklahoma’s first X-gender marker amended birth certificate is more of a comment on the dysfunction of the Executive branch than anything else.

As we have noted previously, the question was not one of if people have the right to have X-gender markers in Oklahoma, but rather about the process of how. Law requires people have government documents for everything from receiving their COVID-19 vaccine to engaging in their right to vote. So long as that is the case, there is a necessity for people to have documents that accurately reflect who they are. And the fact of the matter is and always have been people here who do not fit within the gender binary. While the executive order is full of attacks suggesting the Health Department, and by extension, the Attorney General’s office, violated statute in entering into the legal settlement, it also ignores that the separation of powers exists for exactly a moment like this in which the Governor does not have the authority to overturn an agreement entered into in a court of law.

We are sure in the midst of scrutiny around intentionally torturous executions and asks that he show political courage in response, it felt easy for the Governor to try and refocus media narratives and partisan pressure by attacking some of the most marginalized and historically excluded residents of our state. Our team at Freedom Oklahoma stands firm in our commitment to engage in advocacy that both exposes the inner workings of the Legislature and Executive branch to our 2SLGBTQ+ community and centers 2SLGBTQ+ voices in our work and advocacy. February looms ahead with the promise of attacks that seek to make scapegoats of 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans and continue to deny and limit our rights and freedoms under the law. And for that session and each one after it, we are ready to do the work.

Freedom Oklahoma’s next scheduled Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic in conjunction with the Diversity Center and OUtlaw students at the OU School of Law is scheduled for Saturday, November 13, 2021. Applicants can register here. Those wishing to support this critical work can give directly or to our work more broadly.”

Nicole McAfee

Pronouns: she/they

We know that stories amplifying attacks on LGBTQ2S+ people have a measurable negative impact on mental health. We ask that stories covering this topic include information to access LGBTQ2S+ affirming mental health support, such as Trans Lifeline 877-565-8860 https://translifeline.org/.

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Freedom Oklahoma