You’re watching live from Capitol Hill, where the first-ever Gender Liberation March will be held in just a few hours. The event comes as the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case challenging a ban on gender affirming care. Arguments on Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care will be heard in the fall. A decision is expected next summer. The march was coordinated by the Gender Liberation Movement. Which says they’re marching for bodily autonomy, self-determination, collectivity, and the pursuit of fulfillment in the face of increasing restrictions on marginalized communities. So now joining us is one of their main organizers of the march, writer and activist Raquel Willis. Hey Raquel, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it. I only have one way to explain, I want to ask you first of all how the idea for this march came about. How long have you been working to organize this. We want to say that this march has been going on for years and while they’re making a lot of attacks on different communities online, especially LGBTQ people of course, people who are marginalized, people who need access to abortion and reproductive justice.
Last year we started building a coalition of different leaders and organizations who believe that we all have a right to make our own decisions about our bodies. If counter protesters come out today, your organization is working to make sure that participants are safe, we definitely have a strong and robust security team that’s guiding us. Our voices and our bodies in the streets were going to go through the capital. Were going to go through the Supreme Court as you said and then we’re also going to go right outside the Heritage Foundation. As many know the Heritage Foundation is a key architect of Project Twenty Twenty Five. We know that the plan that they’re pushing is very strict on many of our rights like gay and trans people and women of color. We just want to point out that we’re not going to let this happen, we’re going to raise our voices. Keep fighting and Raquel as you know you’ve been advocating for certain things that have become controversial political issues in this divided country that we’re in right now, a number of Republican led states have taken steps to prevent access to gender affirming care for transgender miners. That’s for people under the age of eighty.
That typically includes using reversible hormones to delay puberty, so what do you say to people who may have nothing against the trans community. But just assume that miners are too young to be making these life changing decisions. I would suggest that people should know trans people in all ADAs, you know our experiences are not new, it’s not something that just jumped out of this guy yesterday. Because many people have died, we have ancestors far older than the trans third, reminding us that gay trans and binary people have always existed. One of the main struggles for a lot of our people has actually been to get access to health care. So we understand that people may have questions, but let’s actually be here and communicate with people who already know. What is trans or non binary or gender
nonconforming experience is overwhelmingly the people who are pushing progressive legislation. They don’t know gay and trans non binary files. They’re trying to create fear. Started ignoring and but the other thing we want to tell people. If it’s about our bodies then these politicians who are pushing to restrict legislation against trans non binary people. They’re not stopping at running non binary as we’ve seen recently in Florida. They’re coming for trans non binary people of all ages. You better believe the attacks on gender confirmation here are connected with the attacks on access to abortion.