Ten percent of Americans identify as LGBTQ+. At least four percent of Wisconsinites identify as LGBTQ+. Queer people vary in age, race, gender, and sexuality, but they share a unique characteristic: they are under attack, both at home and abroad. The federal government is attempting to erase LGBTQ+ history and impose restrictions on the current generation of queer people, restricting their safe access to education, athletics, and healthcare. The Wisconsin legislature is falling in line with this erasure, proposing state-level legislation that puts its queer citizens at risk. Our LGBTQ+ siblings in Palestine face an even more pressing risk of erasure due to the genocide imposed by Israel and aided by the United States, which is justified in part as a defense of queer rights, an egregious lie meant to further discount queer Palestinian voices.

For too long, queer people have been a scapegoat for society’s problems, and government resources are spent focusing on their oppression instead of proper systemic improvements. In Wisconsin, Assembly Bills 100 and 102 attack trans youth, restricting them from joining the sports teams that align with their gender identity across grade school and college levels. AB 103 similarly targets their ability to use preferred pronouns, and punishes the educators who would respect trans identities. To top off the anti-trans legislation, AB 104 threatens minors’ access to gender-affirming care.

Beyond the current legislation, queer people face systemic oppression every day. Cuts to healthcare and limitations on inclusive sex education impact the queer community; those assigned female at birth are at a higher risk of unintended pregnancy and need for abortion, due in large part to the reliance on heternormative sexual education and dangerous assumptions by medical providers about their patients’ sexual histories. Our housing and security is also under threat. The queer community experiences higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and police brutality than cishet people. And just like the attacks on trans and queer people, the ruling class is using attacks on immigrants to divide and discipline the working class. ICE has been terrorising immigrant communities throughout the country, and the Trump Administration has cracked down brutally on communities that have protested in solidarity with their neighbors.

All of these experiences are connected. They exist, by design, under capitalism, which will always put profit over the needs of the many. The more we struggle with housing, with healthcare, with education, the more they think they can divide the working class, by trapping us in our individual struggles. But we are not divided – we are a community. We see through them. We see through capitalism. As workers, as queer and trans people, and as allies, we stand together to fight for queer liberation and bodily freedom, and an end to the capitalist system that oppresses, exploits, and divides us.

Each of these bills and cultural norms has a tangible impact on queer existence, resulting in bullying, harassment, assault, and even death. But there is still an opportunity for change – for liberation.

We are calling on the Wisconsin legislature to prioritize queer liberation. No bill that targets queer and trans people should be passed, not this year or ever. No money should go towards any action that demonizes or erases queer existence. We are fighting for protective and inclusive legislation, universal social programs – including a single-payer healthcare system that covers all essential healthcare – including abortion, birth control, and gender-affirming care – for everyone, regardless of income, ability, identity, or employment status.

We are fighting to protect our LGBTQ+ siblings in Wisconsin, in America, and around the globe. This movement starts here, today.

That’s why we’re demanding that Governor Evers and WI legislators:
Veto any homophobic or transphobic bill that passes the Senate!
Protect trans youth so everyone can have a quality education!
Divest from Israel!
Invest in LGBTQ+ inclusive healthcare and housing!
Fully fund schools, single-payer healthcare, build more affordable housing, universal rent control