Firas Nasr, founding organizer of WERK for Peace, says, “From rescinding protections of trans youth to permitting discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in healthcare, the administration has made it clear that they are actively opposed to our communities and are working to zap our bodily autonomy. We will dance to send a clear message that this bigotry will not be tolerated. In addition, with a serial sexual predator in the White House, our protest will highlight the sexual violence we experience and will create space for healing in the community through consent and movement.”
“Consent, body autonomy, and safety are cornerstones of the LGBTQ movement, and Donald Trump is the antithesis to our vision of freedom, justice, and equality,” says, Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. The event will include national LGBTQ activists who are attending the Task Force’s 30th Annual Creating Change Conference. The convening spotlights the need for justice and bodily autonomy on multiple fronts, including reproductive justice, anti-discrimination, and disability justice.
The protestors will also target the Wilson building to press the District Council, where two bills are currently being considered to decriminalize sex work and to address sexual and hate-based harassment on a citywide level.
The event invite states: It’s time to come together and demand a world where no one has to say #MeToo. We’re calling on our federal government and our local government to believe survivors and pass legislation to address sexual violence using a public health approach that doesn’t increase criminalization and works to build consent culture. All bodies, genders, sexualities, and expressions are welcome.
