The Resistance Brief: This week in the fight for justice

Turning fear into action

Blog by Ricardo Martinez (he/him), Executive Director

Do you remember the energy back in 2017? The outrage, the immediate backlash, the knit pink hats, celebrities being vocally unafraid? The mass mobilizations everywhere ignited hope and kept folks from creeping into despair. That fever pitch of civic engagement peaked with the emergence of the national #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements.

On a local level, in Texas, I recall a similar moment of collective outrage that felt like an awakening when Governor Greg Abbott directed the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents of trans kids. People uniformly felt their moral Spidey-Senses signaling the premonition of an impending threat and, as such, an urgency in action.

Once again, after the initial shock of this administration’s “flood the zone” with cruelty strategy, people are regaining their footing and finding their voice. I see glimpses of collective outrage and action, and I see it across issues, perhaps ushering in a collective cross-movement resistance. People are strategically agitating, thinking of workarounds to the mess created by DOGE and responding to this administration’s affront to American values of freedom, privacy, respect, and community.

  • Communities are leading Know Your Rights trainings on how to claim your rights if faced with ICE agents;
  • Consumers are engaging in boycotts to confront the staggering influence of billionaires on our lives and political system;
  • Outraged Americans are organizing protests in cities across the United States, showing up at town halls, and making calls to their federal and state senators and representatives;
  • Doctors are sharing vital information about infectious diseases on social media;
  • Organizations like GLAD Law are surging litigation efforts to stop, delay, and minimize the impact of these attacks on LGBTQ+ rights and our democracy.

At a time when the federal government is testing how much brutality Americans will tolerate against vulnerable people, this is the moment for action. It is the time to embrace our grief and fear, access our courage, and decide what our contributions to the resistance will be. 

There is a lot at stake. 

The Trump administration wants us to be numb to the complete expulsion of all transgender people from military service, shutting down global funding of HIV treatment access, the demonizing of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the exploitation of our children’s health and wellbeing. So many things that should be absolutely safe and secure feel like they’re being shaken up, including marriage equality, which has been undeniably good for kids, families, and society.

The last six weeks have left no doubt that there is a broad plan at work to deny LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC, and all women their fundamental rights and to test and erode democratic institutions. We cannot forget our moral strength and obligation to recognize and resist authoritarianism in all its forms.

We cannot tell ourselves that attacks on the rights or freedoms of others don’t touch us directly – because distance from brutality offers no protection from its reach.

GLAD Law will continue to show up to work every day to protect those rights and freedoms. Thank you for being part of this resistance with us.​​​​​

What to know, what to do: 

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