ED Statement Day Two of Election Results

Photo Credit: Mel Ponder Photography

We are still in the middle of the fight for community solutions to policing and there have been ongoing gains in King County, the City of Seattle, and the State and Nation. We can take pride, whatever happens in this election, in the work of BIPOC leaders on the front line of the movement for Black life and Black Trans life.

Secondly, with the increase in violence against Black Trans Women and Femmes, know that this is not simply an election for many of us, it is a fight for survival. We have still not heard from any party an understanding of the gravity of the situation or a solution to this genocide.

In general, the trans/two-spirit/gender diverse community are seeing ongoing employment, housing, healthcare discrimination, exacerbated by Covid-19. With the Bostock decision in the Supreme Court, we are promised federal employment protection and possibly further protection in housing, and medical care. However, with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, we are reminded that those promises are tenuous.

Thirdly, we want to celebrate historic gains so far and coming with queer, trans, gender diverse, and QTBIPOC persons in elected offices across the country. Including Sarah McBride, Michele Rayner-Goolsby, Taylor Small, Ritchie Torres, Mauree Turner, and more to come. We need to keep the momentum going.

This fight is a marathon and not a sprint. Black and Indigenous-led organizations need sustained and legacy giving that will support the work long-term. Black Lives, Black Trans Lives don’t just matter in the summer of 2020, they matter forever.

Jaelynn Scott,

Executive Director of Lavender Rights Project

Founding Member of the WA Black Trans Task Force