On this, the anniversary of Dobbs
Image from a different June protest, this time Brooklyn in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. A white woman in a hoodie and a man with a bicycle stand in front of dozens of police in riot gear.
I had already been mentally drafting something about what a hard month its been and then I remembered that along with everything else it is also the three year anniversary of the day the Supreme Court handed abortion policy back to the states and created chaos.
But while there is a lot to say about Dobbs, June started with ICE.
Inconceivably, its only been two and a half weeks since the protests in LA started, as masked, unmarked ICE agents began raiding workplaces and communities. Two days later the National Guard was sent in. Once again, the world saw footage of highly militarized police in full riot gear running down and beating protesters in tshirts and sneakers. Ever since the inaguration, immigration raids have been increasing dramatically, but this month something broke, something shifted, something changed. The view is horrific and people are duly horrified.
A week after the protests started, a Minnesota lawmaker, known for her pro-abortion views, was assassinated with her husband by a civilian dressed as a police officer. The person who killed her had a hit list of other people he intended to go after - including abortion providers.
The same day, millions around the country attended “No Kings” protests, while a military/birthday parade went down Constitution Ave in DC.
Days later, the United States bombed Iran.
June is also Pride month but days after the murder and protests, the Supreme Court came back to make its mark yet again by allowing Tennessee lawmakers to ban trans health for minors.
So I’m going to talk about how all these fights are interconnected.
We have seen over and over how war is used as an excuse to infringe on the rights of the people. An empowered ICE like we are seeing today, with little accountability and a lot of discretion, could easily be weaponized against the citizenry, no longer stopping at disappearing undocumented (and sometimes documented) residents, but trans students, abortion providers, civil rights leaders. It’s also no accident that the trans health Skrmetti case came down on the heels of the overturn of Roe. The fights for trans justice and reproductive justice are fundamentally interconnected - at their core both are about a person’s right to make decisions about their own body and to live happy, healthy lives. Anti-trans policy is often repurposed anti-abortion policy; it dictates where care can be received, which medications are and are not available, and what doctors can and cannot say. Abortion was the initial test balloon, anti-trans laws are the second: the litmus to see how far a government can go in infringing on its people’s rights and get away with it. We are, of course, also seeing how immigration is the third - how flexible are the words “due process” and “citizen.” The answer is: very.
It has been a deeply sad, deeply troubling time. The earth feels like it has fundamentally shifted under us. Which is not to say that things are hopeless - we must always carry hope - but that the powers that be are willing to be unimaginably ruthless to try to maintain their hold.
I barely even talked about that three year anniversary that in many ways changed my life, but I’m trying to end this on something if not encouraging then forward-looking. So here’s where I’ll land. It’s something I say to every reporter or group of people I speak to before the call/meeting/presentation/etc ends:
Every bit helps.
Don’t want to say the word abortion? Fight for universal childcare, universal health care, education. Immigration isn’t your thing but climate is? Great. Climate justice is immigration justice is reproductive justice is trans justice is economic justice. The point is not delineation, it’s liberation. Do what you can.
Oh and if you’re in New York City right now, go vote and don’t rank Cuomo.