Since January of 2017, the Trump Administration has launched 67 policy and legal attacks on transgender and non-binary (enby) lives including: supporting a business’s right to deny services to trans and enby people, the removal of pre-existing nondiscrimination clauses from the Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Justice, Labor and Veterans Affairs and most recently an announcement of the removal of all nondiscrimination protections for healthcare provided by the Affordable Care Act. Sometime before June of this year, SCOTUS will (most likely) decide to uphold the legal ability to discriminate against LGBTQ people in employment. In 2019, 22 transgender and gender non-conforming (gnc) people were murdered because they were trans or gnc - the majority of them trans women of color. Over 77% of trans and enby people say they have experienced some type of discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, legal status, and public services. Transgender women of color are amongst the most oppressed individuals in the US and, as a result, they have a life expectancy of 35 years - less than half the life expectancy of cisgender white women (77.5).
This webinar will review gender identity discrimination and its escalation during the COVID-19 pandemic and make the argument that feminism cannot be about fighting discrimination based on sex. Instead, cisgender women must ally with transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people to battle oppression based on gender and gender identity. Join us in evolving towards inclusive organizing to take practical steps to make a gender equitable world for all.
Lakey Love is a non-binary pansexual grassroots activist with over 25 years of advocacy experience in Florida, Colorado, Washington, DC, and Virginia. They first got involved with National Organization for Women fighting for abortion rights in Tallahassee, Florida when they were 15. They served for three years on Gainesville FL NOW’s executive team while at college at University of Florida where they helped fight for the creation of the UF Women’s Studies Department and rape awareness and services on campus.
Currently, Lakey is absent dissertation for a Ph.D. in English Literature at Florida State University and holds a Master’s in Literature, Master’s in Liberal Studies, a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, and a Bachelor’s in Anthropology. Lakey designed the grassroots organizing model adopted for state chapters of Women’s March on Washington and has extensive grassroots organizing experience on a range of issues including education, gun control, racial justice, economic justice, criminal justice reform, immigration, LGBTQIA justice, reproductive rights and women’s rights at the local, state, regional and national levels.
Kathryn Lane is an attorney in Tallahassee, FL, and currently practices criminal appellate law. She serves as secretary for the Tallahassee chapter of the National Organization for Women, and is a member of the Florida Coalition for Transgender Liberation and the Tallahassee Community Action Committee. She previously served on the advisory board of TransAction Florida. She has conducted trainings on cultural competency concerning the transgender and non- binary community, as well as on the unique issues faced by this community in the criminal justice system.
Delilah Pierre is a writer and activist living in Tallahassee, Florida. The Outreach Coordinator for the Tallahassee community action committee, Delilah has worked with grassroots organizations to pass the most extensive conversion therapy ban in Florida and fight against police brutality in the Tallahassee community. Her passions include fantasy novels, history, and poetry.