Prepare for Resisting Oppressive Acts Outlined in Project 2025
Musings of the Month
The Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities across the United States need your support more than ever as we prepare for the incoming Trump administration, which will continue to demonize them and attempt to erase their existence.
President-elect Trump made rolling back transgender rights a key issue in his campaign. He promised to limit access to gender-affirming care and to prevent trans athletes from participating in school sports. His election has Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, especially trans people, and allies fearful of widespread discrimination and a loss of health care access (Source).
Trump advisors who drafted Project 2025 bemoan “transgender ideology”—a phrase that suggests that trans people are not actual humans instead of targets of malignant propaganda. For Project 2025’s authors, the “ideology” of trans existence and LGBTQIA+ equality has seeped into every crevice of the federal government, and it’s their mission to eradicate it. Furthermore, Project 2025 calls for removing the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” from “every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.” This erasure isn’t symbolic—it’s part of a systematic effort to strip Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people of all legal protection from persecution, discrimination, and violence. Here are just a few examples of how Project 2025’s authors say they would do it:
They’d dismantle the Affordable Care Act’s protections against sex discrimination in health care.
They’d reverse the 2024 Title IX rule, depriving LGBTQIA+ students—and in fact all students, especially women and girls—of nondiscrimination protections in K12 schools, colleges, and universities that get federal funding.
They would gut LGBTQIA+ workplace discrimination protections under Title VII, limiting them just to hiring and firing decisions. (Source)
In our circles, we know many families (including some of our own) and individuals who are seeking legal advice related to making sure their adoptions, marriages, wills, and more are handled in a way that will help protect them. Some folks have reported having their Pride flag torn down, being threatened, and having sleepless nights, nightmares, and more, even in Washington state. Some people have already left the country to protect themselves from the actions that have been promised.
Here is the thing: while the incoming administration and its supporters may try to demonize us and erase our existence, they will not succeed. Our joy is stronger than their hate. On Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov 21), Misha Safran, founder of the Center for Empathy and Emotional Intelligence, spoke to Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people across the country about the importance of navigating joy and pain with grace. She described how this is a time for building resilience and strength so we are ready when needed to step up and protect ourselves and our neighbors from acts of oppression. See some of the resources below that you can use to support the Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ community, whether you are a member or an ally.
December Resource Highlight
Credible, reliable, and timely resources are essential to resisting oppressive actions and protecting people we care about.
The following organizations are serving Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people across the country and around the world. Consider connecting with some of these organizations and engage in community building, donate time and/or money, and/or educate yourself about the beautifully diverse and vital Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ community. And speak up for the human rights that we deserve by communicating regularly with your government representatives so they are aware of where you stand.
The GLAAD Media Reference Guide: Focus on Transgender People
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
LGBTQ Freedom Fund (Legal help)
PROMO (in Missouri)
SAGE (Serving elders)
Book Spotlight
Resistance: The LGBT Fight Against Fascism in WWII by Avery Cassell
Resistance: The LGBT Fight Against Fascism in WWII, a 2019 Lambda Literary Award finalist, is a collection of biographies and images that you can color of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender resistance members who fought for freedom during the era preceding WWII and during the war itself. Over 35 forebears are featured in this book; members of the Resistance, bar owners, musicians, a fashion designer, a school teacher, journalists, students - all found ways of surviving as they battled fascism as it spread like a virus across Europe. The people depicted here prove that resistance can take many shapes, from forging identity documents, writing anti-fascist poetry, and providing shelter to refugees, to flummoxing Nazis with anti-fascist leaflets. Written by Avery Cassell and illustrated by a community of LGBTQ artists, this book is timely, inspiring, and will make a great gift for the queer and trans folx in your life! Maybe even throw in a pack of colored pencils!
NOTE: Let’s support our local independent bookstores this holiday season! You can order from these bookstores across the country and around the world here. In St. Louis, check with Left Bank Books. And in Seattle, check out Third Place Books.
#SelfCareCorner
Eight Strategies for Coping with Anxiety
Former U.S. Attorney General, C. Everett Koop once said “Reality is the greatest source of stress for those in touch with reality.” If you are in touch with what is going on in the world today, it is normal to be experiencing some anxiety. So, here are some strategies you can use to help manage immediate symptoms, as well as long-term methods to combat recurring issues from the folks at healthline, a health information site.
Identify and learn to manage your triggers
Try therapy
Ask your doctor about medications
Do a daily or routine meditation
Keep a journal
Connect with other people
Stay active
Diet and supplements
What’s new @data2insight?
Data2insight is thrilled to be a partner in the Washington LGBTQ+ Survey study. Help us finish strong!
The Washington LGBTQ+ Survey has already captured the voices of over 4,300 community members from every county in our state, but we need your help to double that number by January 31, 2025. Please share our our recent press release with your network.This groundbreaking research initiative, led by Washington State University and sponsored by the Washington LGBTQ Commission, will directly inform state policy and improve services for our diverse LGBTQIA2S+ communities. The survey addresses the critical gap in national census data about gender identity and sexual orientation (SOGI) and strengthens communication between our community and state government to better inform policy and laws. Available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese, this survey welcomes participation from Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ Washingtonians ages 11 and up. If you have not done so, please take the survey today and share it within your networks - your voice matters in building a more equitable Washington.
Check out the press release recently shared with media outlets across the state.
