September 2023 Update
ID: "September Monthly Update. www.freedomoklahoma.org/news" on a background image of a group of people marching at the Oklahoma Pride Alliance parade and holding flags. There are blue and orange lines and dots on the left and right of the image and the FOK logo is in the center.
A Vision for 2SLGBTQ+ Liberation
Too often our movement feels forced to set an agenda from a defensive position. We fought for marriage access for queer couples because states were trying to ban access to marriage. We fought for workplace protections for trans folks because trans folks were facing workplace discrimination. We fought for our lives from the apathy and hatred of government actors through the first waves of the AIDS epidemic. Now we’re fighting on the front lines of gender-affirming care protections, despite the fact there is already healthcare apartheid for our community, exacerbated by income inequality, racism, and fatphobia, with lack of access to affirming care for most, and lack of access to any healthcare for too many. When that first brick disrupted the policing and harassment trans and queer patrons at Stonewall were being subjected to, do you think our movement elders hoped half a century later, we’d be building an agenda based on the hate-fueled rhetoric of those who have always sought to eradicate our community? We don’t think so, and that’s why our team collaborated to root our work in not just a mission statement, but a vision, grounded in shared values. And we want to take some space this month to share that vision with you.
At Freedom Oklahoma, we know that 2SLGBTQ+ people have been under attack on this land since it was first colonized. We believe that a critical step in creating collective, community-based safety is building power and engaging in advocacy for protections at every level of governance. We fight harmful policy attempts while also looking for opportunities to build and move forward. It is tough and intentional work, and we do it imperfectly, always striving to do better, to grow our table, to make sure everyone in the community has space in the movement, though centering those people who have faced the most historic and ongoing marginalization and exclusion. As an organization, we will forsake popularity and funding to avoid compromising on behalf of members of our community. Two-Spirit, Queer, and Transgender liberation is the long game. The 2SLGBTQ+ community is not a monolith, and therefore we as a single organization cannot claim to do this work on behalf of anyone, but rather we seek to do work with and among our community members, alongside a growing coalition of allies, towards our collective liberation, and until the community safety we seek is realized.
For us, the future isn’t just safe, it is joyful. No member of our community lacks the resources they need to thrive. We’re all clothed, housed, fed, and nurtured, together, by one another, as a community and a collective, not forced to subsist on individualism and resource competition. Because there’s more than enough if we all share. For our disabled relatives, there are no barriers to access. We all work on the -isms, both external and internalized, to grow beyond a culture of harm that maintains a status quo of cishet white power. And, in the spirit of our upcoming celebration of the labor movement on Labor Day, our future does not exploit the bodies or needs of our community for the sake of profits. Solidarity forever with the labor leaders, many who are and have always been 2SLGBTQ+ folks, striking for better conditions now, towards the future where we all have the safety to thrive.
In the months ahead, we will share more of the commitment to equity and values we’re rooting our work in. Because we know it’s a collective practice, because we know we’ll do it imperfectly, and because we know there must be accountability, space for conflict, space to grieve past harms, to move and grow towards the future we believe is possible.
We hope you’ll read this vision statement, and add the pieces that are missing. Help us speak it into being. We hope you’ll make it our vision, something we can work for as a 2SLGBTQ+ community, as a movement, as people invested in our collective liberation, safety, and joy.
We know the attacks will continue. And we’ll continue to fight in every space we can. We’ll call on you to join us. And, we hope in these fights ahead, we won’t lose sight of our vision for the future. We hope to continue to fight on our terms, as a community, not at the expense of any of our community members, and especially not those most historically marginalized and excluded. We see you, we love you, and we know there’s no liberation for us that doesn’t include you. Let’s build our freedom together.
Important Links and updates:
Thank you for joining us at The Freedom Sessions Conference!
WOW! We can’t thank you enough for helping make The Freedom Sessions Conference: Allyship in Action such a success. To our amazing panelists, facilitators, keynote speaker, sponsors, and the over 100 of you who participated in a joyous day of learning and community-building–we are so grateful for you and your dedication to this work.
While this year’s conference is over, The Freedom Sessions continues. We’ll be offering year-round programming under The Freedom Sessions name, so when you see a TFS event, you’ll know there’s a powerful event in store for you.
Image with a black and blue background and the logo for The Freedom Sessions Allyship in Action conference. To the bottom left is “Thank you!” in all caps and to the right is a drawn image of a fist held up surrounded by flames.
September Community Groups
There’s a lot happening for Oklahoma students so early into this school year. Come join us to discuss ways to best support students, educators, and families through these difficult times. Let’s share in the joy and resilience of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Join when/as you are able, and we look forward to seeing you there!
Educators, Teachers, & School Staff: Tuesday, September 12th, 4-5:30pm
Parents, Guardians, & Caregivers: Wednesday, September 13th, 4:30-6pm
Students & Youth: Thursday, September 14th, 4:30-5:30pm
Image of 3 people sharing a hug with a dark blue overlay. Our logo is in the top right corner and the text reads: virtual 2SLGBTQ+ Community Groups. Educators, Teachers, & School Staff: Tuesday, September 12th, 4-5:30pm Parents, Guardians, & Caregivers: Wednesday, September 13th, 4:30-6pm Students & Youth: Thursday, September 14th, 4:30-5:30pm.
Save the date for our Community Skate
With the pandemic ongoing, our Freedom Oklahoma team has grappled with the realities of community safety and accessibility to our annual fundraising event, the Unity Gala. We want to create community spaces that are as mindful of ongoing mitigation as possible, and in ways that aren't inaccessible to our most vulnerable community members. So, this year, we're putting the UNITY in Community, and inviting you to join us for a skate night fundraiser as Scissortail Skyrink, Saturday October 21. Tickets will be on sale this September, so save the date, polish up your skates, and we hope to see you there!
Black background with text "Freedom Oklahoma Presents Community Skate" with graphics of 3 people on roller skates and a Freedom Oklahoma logo. More text at the bottom notes the event will be a Freedom Oklahoma fundraiser on October 21, 2023 from 4-6 PM at Scissortail Park Skyrink.
Name & Gender Marker Correction Clinic and Assistance Program Update
While we continue to work through the unknowns of pending litigation surrounding access to gender marker corrections for Oklahoma birth certificates, we knew it was time to do some streamlining of our process, review of our paperwork, and take steps to make our support around name changes, gender marker corrections, and financial assistance more accessible, more timely, and better suited to the needs of the community members we serve. Our clinic is rooted in the knowledge that this process cannot and should not be one co-opted or gate kept by attorneys. 2STGNC+ folks have always engaged in these processes pro se, and we want to maximize access and accessibility for as much of our community as possible, while also expanding the number of folks in the legal field who have knowledge and experience around the name change and gender marker correction process.
In order to do that, and as we’ve adjusted to staff changes and shifts in responsibility around the clinic, we’ve also taken the steps to engage stakeholders to ensure paperwork accuracy, maximize the time of clinic participants, and compile information to help folks have the best starting point for the process in all 77 counties across Oklahoma. If you’ve registered over the summer as we’ve engaged in this work, we apologize for any lapse in communication. You can expect by the end of this month to receive e-mail communication to set up a 1:1 time or access clinic work blocks to get support around your paperwork. We’ll be working through our waitlist first, and then hope to re-open our regular clinic times at the end of the year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our clinic email directly for support, and we appreciate your patience as we work within our capacity to respond.
Pink and blue gradient background. In the center of the image is a rendering of a pop-up computer window. Text "Name and Gender Marker Correction Clinic Update" In the lower right, the arrow from a computer mouse hovers just under a Freedom Oklahoma logo.