Indivisible Oregon sent me a message on March 25, asking me if I’d help organize an event for the Transgender Day of Visibility in Salem, Oregon. Oh, boy! Six whole days to plan it! But, how could I say no?
Together with Heidi B., we pulled it off! I called the office of Andrea Salinas, the Congresswoman from Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, inviting her or a spokesperson to join us. They sent Mr. Brandon Jordan, who read a letter from Congresswoman Salinas.
Transgender individuals are under threat of erasure as one anti-trans law after another are introduced and passed in Republican controlled states, like this bill in Texas. Transpeople face unsafe conditions in about half the country. Imagine being out and about, and you have to hold your pee until you get home because using a public bathroom might get you arrested. I don’t like using clichés like “clear and present danger” or “unprecedented,” but this clearly is. The threat is clear enough that even cis-women are paying the price. Unless someone looks like a stereotypical woman, there is a chance that they’ll be targeted by the anti-trans militia. For instance, see this article. Any short-haired woman wearing baggy clothes could be targeted. As we saw at the 2024 Paris Olympics, any woman of color who outperforms white women could be accused of being secretly male.
It’s important to understand the flawed logic behind these attacks. If transgender women have such an unfair advantage in sports, why aren’t they dominating the competitions they’re entering?
Now I have three days until the “Hands Off” protest. The organizers did it right and gave us a month to get our act together, and I hope there’ll be sizable crowds in Corvallis, Davis, and Salem.
It’s against this backdrop of increasing legislative attacks and the very real dangers they pose that the ‘Hands Off!’ protests take on even greater significance. While the Hands Off protest isn’t specifically about Trans Rights, the core message of the Hands Off! protest is to tell Trump and Musk, “Hands off our lives! Hands off our Social Security! Hands off our bodies! Hands off our religion! Hands off our pensions!” If you’re able to join us this weekend at any of the hundreds of locations where protests are planned, your presence and voice will make a difference.
And, for those who might be questioning the impact of showing up, I offer this compelling video by the one and only Rebecca Watson, who details studies showing that protests actually do work.
Memoirs of an Earthling 