January 2024 Update
When things feel overwhelming, I often find myself seeking solace in a combination of fantasy novels and histories. I’ve learned through years in this work that as important as dreaming up our future together, as building it, is digging into deep time, the longer arc of our work, our movements, our stories. Because we carry the stories and traditions of resilient ancestors, who have fought similar fights and overcome, who have shared wisdom and joy and grief and the reminder that it is our collective duty to free one another.
Freedom Oklahoma responds to Press Event Launching Latest Gubernatorial Attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Oklahoma
“In comments that ranged from willful ignorance to anti-Indigenous in nature, it did not go unnoticed that the governor did not even mention 2SLGBTQ+ equity and inclusion, despite data that acknowledges 2SLGBTQ+ folks live, work, and study throughout the state. Two Spirit, transgender, and queer people have always been in Oklahoma. And we’ll always be here. We need to have honest conversations about 2SLGBTQ+ history, Black history, Indigenous history, and our continued presence in the state in order to address the root causes of injustice and discrimination. On college campuses, in state agencies, and beyond.”
A future where all 2SLGBTQ+ people have the safety to thrive requires a liberated Palestine
To build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ people have the safety to thrive, in and beyond Oklahoma, Palestine must be free. 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. Audre Lorde wrote, “Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as belonging to everyone; who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.” There are 2SLGBTQ+ Palestinians in the future. There are 2SLGBTQ+ Jewish people in the future. There are 2SLGBTQ+ Oklahomans in the future. Because we have always been and will always be here. And it is our duty to liberate one another. Together, we’ll get free.
Remembering Fernande “fern” Galindo
We know that our community faces loss too regularly. Names and stories we cannot begin to know. We can't honor Fern without acknowledging that we didn't lose them in isolation–that every 2SLGBTQ+ person we lose deserves to be mourned and remembered and celebrated; each deserves a commitment to changing the conditions so we do better for 2SLGBTQ+ folks in and beyond the present.
Fern, we miss you. May your memory be a revolution.
Our children don’t need to be saved, they need to be educated
How do we balance these multiple attacks on multiple fronts? The manufactured outrage around a principal performing drag, the very real threat of harm of a new wave of indoctrination-based materials entering Oklahoma classrooms, the ongoing threats to Tulsa Public Schools accreditation status and resignation of TPS Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist. We do our best to acknowledge the ways these attacks are designed to overwhelm us, we uplift calls to action happening from communities most impacted, and we note that these tactics are not novel–we’ve fought these fights before. And won.
