Dokiman Rezistans lan: Pase Difisil sou Règ Otoritè a

Blog pa Ricardo Martinez (li/li menm), Direktè Egzekitif

Sa ki te sanble enpansab anvan an ap dewoule kounye a devan tout moun: Etazini nan Amerik la ap balanse nan yon sitiyasyon danjere ant libète ak otoritaris. 

Mepri pou moun ki soti nan kominote majinalize yo, sitou imigran ak moun LGBTQ yo, tantativ pou siprime dezakò pa fòs militè nan Los Angeles, restriksyon sou pwosesis legal, dwa ak libète endividyèl, itilizasyon pwopagann ak dezenfòmasyon, demonstrasyon militè otoritè ki pwograme pou Washington DC a, rasis ouvè ak ksenofobi vin pi komen nan peyi nou an.  

Kwayans ak pratik malveyan sa yo vize ranplase valè egalite, sousi pou byen komen, ak konfyans nan règ lalwa ki gaye toupatou. Li pa etonan ke anpil nan nou ap jwenn li difisil pou nou rete anlè dlo. Sitou pou anpil nan nou k ap viv nan idantite kwaze kòm imigran queer. 

Mwen se pitit imigran. Paran m yo te kite fanmi yo ak lavi yo te bati nan Meksik pou posiblite pou pitit yo te ka bati sou sakrifis yo a. Manman m te travay netwaye kay, epi papa m te yon kizinye. Nou te rete nan yon ti apatman yon chanm san anpil mèb. Gadyen sekirite nan lekòl primè mwen an te ede nou jwenn inifòm lekòl, epi vwazen yo te bay mèb ize pou ede fè yon apatman vid santi tankou lakay. Nan mitan lannwit, manman m te konn fabrike plim ak men l – li te konn anpoul men l pou vennsenk dola pou yon gwo bwat. Paran m yo te travay di anpil, epi yo te atann pou frè ak sè m yo ak mwen menm tou nou ta travay di menm jan an nan lekòl. 

Nou pa t viv yon vi rich, men nou te mennen yon vi diy. Se te yon lavi ki te bay anpil valè pou travay di, ki te santre sou fanmi ak yon kominote vwazen nwa, Chinwa, Italyen, Meksiken, Mwayen Oryan ak Ris, epi ki te fè nou santi nou otonòm e plen posiblite. 

Mwen te grandi konnen anpil fanmi ki te pataje aspè istwa mwen: lit pou rive bout mwa, kouraj pou navige baryè lang ak kiltirèl, ak pratik adaptabilite ki te pèmèt nou ini malgre diferans. Sa a se te chemen ki mennen nan "Rèv Ameriken an".   

Konsa, lè m wè videyo ki montre fason ofisye Imigrasyon ak Ladwàn (ICE) yo ap arete moun nan vwayaj chak jou yo pou yo jwenn yon pi bon lavi nan travay yo, nan tribinal yo ak nan lekòl yo, sa santi l trè pèsonèl. Li difisil pou m pa wè figi paran m ak vwazen m yo sou kadav ajan ICE yo ap arete avèk agresivite. Mwen konnen mwen pa sèl moun ki rekonèt tretman brital vwazen nou yo – mank swen ak refi pou onore diyite ak valè natirèl èt imen yo. Rekonèt sa n ap fè fas a se yon bagay ki gen yon enpòtans kapital. Dezimanizasyon, rann moun kont moun, sonje yon tan lontan ki te womantize, ak transfòme ajans yo an zam, tout fè pati yon plan ki pi laj. 

Yo te itilize kominote vilnerab ki gen pouvwa limite pou pèsonifye pwoblèm politik ki divizif, pou kreye pasivite jeneralize yo bezwen pou nòmalize vyolans politik ak yon kontwòl enstitisyonèl pi laj e, finalman, destriksyon. 

Nou tout ap santi destriksyon sistematik sa a epi n ap lite pou n konnen kijan pou n reyaji.... Epi se espre sa. Plis moun nan pre debri yo, se plis doulè ak dezespwa a ap parèt. Sa bay moun ki santi yo lwen destriksyon an yon fo sans sekirite epi administrasyon an plis tan pou yo kenbe dousman e metòdikman yon ritm atak ki pa sanble ak yon kriz ankò.    

Men, se yon kriz. 

Tès estrès la sou konbyen britalite nou pral tolere anvè kominote majinalize yo ap kontinye jiskaske plis moun rekonèt ke atak sou imigran yo mete chak Ameriken an danje pou yo refize yo yon pwosesis legal; atak sou swen sante transganr yo mennen nan destriksyon enstitisyon medikal ak rechèch etabli; defi pwoteksyon PrEP yo mennen nan demantèlman swen prevantif tankou mamografi ak vaksen; epi envestigasyon sou espò nan lekòl yo se jis yon lòt mwayen pou febli sistèm edikasyon piblik nou an. 

Kidonk, kisa nou ka fè pou nou rejte otoritaris? 

Premyèman, ou dwe rekonèt ke nou fè pati yon pi gwo antye, yon mouvman, epi nou pa ka fè li poukont nou. Ou ka chwazi pou w apiye sou domèn mouvman jistis sosyal la ki pasyone w epi kote konpetans ou, talan ou, privilèj ou, enfliyans ou, tolerans ou pou risk, ak pouvwa ou gen pi gwo enpak la. Epi sa t ap sifi. Tout aksyon, gwo kou piti, kontribye nan pwoteje libète demokratik ke administrasyon sa a detèmine pou l pran nan men nou. 

Se travay nou pou nou chwazi kontribye. Si ou kapab fè yon don, fè yon don chak mwa. Si ou kapab pwoteste, patisipe nan manifestasyon piblik pasifik. Si ou gen enfliyans sou entènèt, ankouraje moun pou yo defann enterè yo epi pou yo elaji espas angajman sivik la. Si ou kapab dirije, vin tounen yon lidè nan kominote w la. Si ou fè atizay – anrejistre moman sa a nan listwa. 

Pi bon bagay GLAD Law ka fè se kontinye parèt jan nou te fè a – sèvi ak tout aspè lalwa a pou defann dwa LGBTQ+ yo. Nou fè pati yon pi gwo ekosistèm òganizasyon ki konsantre sou jistis sosyal. – chak moun kontribye nan tout la nan domèn espesyalite pa yo – konvèje nan fason estratejik pou pwoteje pi bon bagay nan peyi sa a epi rasanble debri estrikti ki pa sèvi nou ankò. 

Nou bezwen panse yon fason inovatè sou fason nou pral reyaji epi tou reve yon avni ki konsève pou nou tout. Yon avni kote nou tout gen menm chans pou nou viv yon bon lavi, avèk aksè a lojman ak swen sante abòdab, epi kote nou ka pran swen tèt nou ak fanmi nou. Yon avni kote nou pa bezwen kalkile risk lè n ap antre nan espas nou pa abitye avèk yo. Yon avni kote gen posiblite san fen pou fanmi imigran k ap viv Ozetazini. Kote tout moun LGBTQ+ ka viv lib e an sekirite. Epi kote aksè a Rèv Ameriken an pa ankre nan sipremasi blan epi li akòde sèlman a moun ki anfòm byen nan bwat ak kategori yo jije diy. Y ap pouse zegwi a nan direksyon otoritaris, e nou dwe repouse li.     

Sa pou konnen, sa pou fè: 

• Li blog laJennifer Levi, Direktè Prensipal Dwa Transgenr ak Queer, dekri "destriksyon enstitisyonèl" administrasyon an.
• Kontakte lejislatè ou yoDi yo pou yo opoze pwojè lwa ki kont dwa sivil ak moun trans nan Maine. 
• Rachèl MaddowPrezante li enpòtan, epi li ap mache.

Li plis edisyon Rezistans Brief la.

Dokiman Rezistans lan: Semèn sa a nan batay pou jistis

Forced Separation

Blog pa Ricardo Martinez (li/li menm), Direktè Egzekitif

Expelling courageous servicemembers who have put their lives on the line for this country is beneath contempt.  

Following the Supreme Court decision to allow the Trump administration’s transgender military ban to take effect while legal challenges continue, transgender servicemembers find themselves having to make unfathomable decisions. They must tell the military whether they will leave “voluntarily” or wait to be forced out.  

Active-duty transgender servicemembers have until today, June 6, to accept what the military has termed “voluntary” separation. Transgender servicemembers in the reserves have until July 7 to do the same. These are people who have served honorably, many for decades, earning medals and distinctions. Yet they’re being forced to choreograph their own dismissal, simply for being transgender.  

I recently spoke to a couple of our plaintiffs, who shared that many trans servicemembers can barely sleep trying to make this devastatingly difficult, life-altering decision. “It is really happening, thousands of us, many of whom have spent the majority of our lives working towards or in military service, are about to lose everything and have to start all over again from square one. It’s a very heavy feeling.” 

Servicemembers are left moving in directions that lead to the same unfavorable outcome: the end of their military careers. They are caught between a rock and a hard place – the carrot or the stick. On one hand, they take “voluntary” separation, which coerces them with “incentives” to end their career, like forgiven repayment of bonuses. On the other hand, they stay for now and face being pushed out later under even harsher terms.

This isn’t really a choice at all. Take Hunter Marquez for example. Hunter is a cadet who just graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. Recently, he completed the demanding physical and academic requirements required by the military but because he is transgender, he was not commissioned as an officer. On graduation day, he was presented with his “choice”—leave the career he’d worked toward, or face potentially repaying the full cost of his military education, a debt that would devastate his ability to launch his professional life. 

Regardless of each individual’s personal decision, honor and principle are drivers of service for each of our plaintiffs, and for thousands of other transgender servicemembers. History will record the unfairness of their expulsion. 

I can’t begin to understand the profound “sense of institutional betrayal,” as one plaintiff told me, that these servicemembers are feeling. I’m outraged by the abusive maltreatment these decorated servicemembers are receiving simply because of who they are. As the world continues to teeter between authoritarianism and freedom, I worry that this treatment is being normalized. 

We should, at all costs, fight being desensitized to the abnormal treatment of servicemembers who have historically exemplified the American values of integrity, honor, and courage. Our sense of the common good and collective well-being rests on our ability or inability to sense the chilling ripple effect of discriminatory practices aimed at our most vulnerable communities. 

Today is a heartbreaking and shameful day, as the implementation of Trump’s transgender military ban goes into effect in the short term. But our fight doesn’t end. We have many tools to challenge the hostile attacks coming our way, litigation chief among them. We are still awaiting an appellate court decision in our challenge to the transgender military ban that could yet allow these servicemembers to continue serving while our constitutional case moves forward. Whatever happens to transgender service members in the short-run, GLAD Law will keep fighting to protect them.  

We are in it for the long haul. Our plaintiffs, and our entire community, deserve no less.   

Sa pou konnen, sa pou fè: 

• Send a message of support and thanks to transgender servicemembers.
• Read this powerful op-ed from Wayne Maines: “I didn’t think transgender kids were real. My love for my daughter changed that.”  
• Tell senators to say no to ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans, including thousands of LGBTQ+ adults, who are twice as likely to have Medicaid as their primary insurance. 

Li plis edisyon Rezistans Brief la.