December 2024 Monthly Update

I’ve tried and failed to start this month’s newsletter a number of times. Because I want to give you the words that help collectively shift us from reacting to action, and also the words that soothe us through our grief, and allow us to find softness through the rage. But I don't have those words. Because I am tired. And angry. And some days overwhelmed. Some days afraid. What I find as my North Star through this time of turmoil is the reminder that I don't have to do any of this alone. 

Yesterday the Department of Education released a letter to Owasso Public Schools detailing a number of ways in which they failed to comply with Title IX, the result of an investigation following a complaint launched after Nex Benedict died the day following being beaten in a school bathroom after months of being bullied for his* gender identity. It is certainly an important step to have a federal institution acknowledge the harms caused by Owasso Public School’s failure to comply with Title IX–compliance failures that stretch far beyond Nex’s case and his death. While Owasso Public Schools in their initial response has acknowledged their failure to comply with Title IX, their continued refusal to acknowledge their role in the death of Nex Benedict shows how far removed their response is from accountability. And, as we all sit with the letter from the Federal Department of Education, the list of next steps may feel far removed from any sense of justice, to the extent that it is even possible when a school has contributed to the conditions that resulted in the death of one of their students.

There are a lot of unknowns and heavy days ahead. And there's no quick or easy way through the anxiety we're all feeling about now. So, let's acknowledge that and start with how we're getting through today, through this week, through November.

November 2024 Monthly Update

November is a heavy month for so many of us. There’s some sense of despair up and down the ballot as election day nears. There’s Trans Week of Awareness leading up to the annual Trans Day of Remembrance, where we continue to evolve our revolutionary practice of collective grieving and recommitment to safety. And, it can often be a check box of naming violence without any room to actually share that grief or safety building.

“The Houses Our Ancestors Built,” a guest blog by Oklahoma Queer History

October 2024 Monthly Update

Every year, as October begins, we celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ history month. An exercise that has become grounding for all of our team, in expanding our knowledge of the 2SLGBTQ+ folks who came before us, who fought and loved before us, who paved the way for us, as our work now will become history for future generations. Marsha Pay-It-No-Mind Johnson said, “History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.” We each have a responsibility, not just a role, in our community history. And so we’re kicking off this month, focusing on what a commitment to keep one another safe means, what it means to build a future where every 2SLGBTQ+ person has the safety to thrive. So, we’ll ground our history in our commitment to the future. 

September 2024 Monthly Update

As an autistic kid growing up in the era of LeVar Burton’s Reading Rainbow, I knew from an early age there were few places cooler in the world than a local public library. And I am grateful as an adult to have rediscovered that magic (as my Libby app TBR list can confirm). Books have always held such a special place in my heart, and sometimes I find myself overwhelmed by everything on my to-read list, and what that means for all of the stories I won’t have the opportunity to experience. And still, even as a kid who made a summertime game out of reading, writing reviews, and swapping books to repeat the process with my best friend, it was not until I was an adult that I really found characters in which I could really see myself.

August 2024 Monthly Update

Last year, we launched The Freedom Sessions (TFS)–a program that aims to create a platform that provides education, awareness, and community engagement for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and their allies. We wanted to do more than just convene once a year during a conference, we wanted to build something that allowed for year-round learning and connecting. We hope you’ll join us for this year’s conference and TFS events to learn and develop best practices for organizing, community care, power building, and sustaining our liberation movement, together!

July 2024 Monthly Update

Raymond Williams said, “To be truly radical is to make hope possible, rather than despair convincing.” As we prepare to take some rest this month, we invite you to join us in focusing on the people, the spaces, and experiences that give you hope. What does that list look like when you’re really paying attention? I’ll start.