Category: Press Statement

Just this month, three pieces of anti-trans legislation have been introduced in the Georgia legislature: SB 88, SB 140, and SB 141. These are the first pieces of anti-trans legislation that we have seen this session, and SPARK will immediately begin organizing against these dangerous bills in the interest of supporting our trans kin, and specifically trans youth.

SB88 was introduced on February 2. Effectively serving as Georgia’s own  “Don’t Say Gay” bill,it would ban any adult at a child’s school (public or private), library, social services agency, camp, or similar program from talking with a child about the child’s sexual orientation or non-cis gender identity, even if the child initiated the conversation. The law would also require signed parent permission and an amended birth certificate to change a child’s gender or name in their school records. The statute may also be used to ban any drag queen story hour events through a provision banning the instruction of a child by any adult who is “dressed in a sexually provocative manner” according to “current community standards.” We know that this phrase is a euphemism for drag, and could also potentially be applied to any person who is visibly trans or gender non-conforming. 

SB 140 was introduced on February 9. This bill would ban all gender affirming surgeries for minors in the state of Georgia, regardless of the opinions of the minor, their parents, or their doctor. The ban includes a carve-out to continue medically unnecessary and unwanted surgeries on intersex youth. 

SB 141 was also introduced on February 9. This bill would ban all gender affirming care for minors, including hormones, puberty blockers, and any surgical procedures. The ban would also require teachers, school nurses, and other school staff to out trans youth to their parents. A carve-out to continue surgeries on intersex youth is included in the bill. 

SPARK loudly and unapologetically opposes these pieces of transphobic legislation. We know that we are in the midst of a national political and social push to further marginalize trans people. Anti-trans legislation, even legislation that does not pass, is dangerous – the political and social normalization of transphobia creates a society where it is unsafe to be trans. Trans youth deserve to live in a world where they are loved and protected, not one where their existence is constantly debated and denied. 

Queer, Trans, and questioning students have the right to speak privately with adults they trust about their gender identities and sexual orientation. Trans youth have the right to seek gender affirming care without government interference. The doctors and parents of trans youth have the right to affirm and care for trans youth without criminalization. These are true statements that SPARK will continue to repeat and organize around until trans folks have been liberated from political and social violence and oppression. Trans liberation is reproductive justice. 

If you want to help fight against transphobia and anti-trans legislation here in Georgia, contact your representative and let them know that trans youth deserve protection in our state. You can also register to join SPARK’s advocacy day, Legislate This!, to gain advocacy skills and have opportunities to speak directly to your legislators. 

In Solidarity,

SPARK

Atlanta, GA, Friday, February 8, 2019

Coming off the heels of the longest government shutdown ever, Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union Address earlier this week. Though billed as one of unity and bipartisanship, this speech was a clear mobilization effort for Trump’s base. Trump pushed very polarizing policies and ideals for the entirety of his speech, including spending a significant amount of time promoting and demanding a border wall, to calling for an abortion ban that is based on misguided and incorrect information.

As anticipated, Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address made it clear that he would stop at nothing to limit the rights of immigrant families, restrict reproductive rights, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and ignore and facilitate voter suppression tactics. This speech further emphasized the plight of our marginalized communities, including Black women, women of color and queer and trans people of color.

In response to Donald Trump’s second State of the Union Address, Stacey Abrams provided an alternative take on what America should be and how we can achieve that reality. She exuded true leadership throughout her honest and open speech, that began with a heartwarming anecdote about her family. Abrams promoted an America that is rooted in unity, compassion, hope, fairness and a commitment to the success and wellness of our neighbors.

Stacey Abrams’ response called for safer schools, a lower cost of higher education, compassionate treatment at the borders, expansion of Medicaid, lower cost of healthcare, action against climate change, a stop to voter suppression and action against the maternal mortality rates that are dis-proportionality high within the Black community.

This administration has made and is making every effort to oppress the folks in our communities. It is through the efforts that were laid out by Stacey Abrams that this oppression can be combated. It is through the solidarity between the women Members of Congress, as seen in their all white, that this oppression can be combated.

SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! will continue to fight for these marginalized communities, until every Black woman, woman of color, and queer and trans person of color has the resources and tools to make decisions about their bodies, their communities, and their futures.

Erin Gloster
Digital Communications and Development Coordinator
SPARK Reproductive Justice Now!

Atlanta, GA, Tuesday, May 21, 2018: SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! fervidly opposes any presidential action that unfairly targets a person’s right to access comprehensive care, including abortion services. This administration is continuing its trend of targeting reproductive health providers and services by affirming this unjust and unnecessary “gag rule”. This directive that will restrict federal funds from clinics that provide abortion or even refer patients to abortion providers is an attack on our right to make safe, informed decisions about our bodies and lives. Even if we ignore the absurdity of the federal government attempting to control and infringe upon private conversations between patients and their medical providers, we still must confront how on its surface, this directive is simply redundant. The Hyde Amendment of 1976 already precludes federal funds from being used for abortion. This gag rule is this administration’s way of further marginalizing already vulnerable patients seeking reproductive care and services. It’s a campaign to force providers to misinform their patients and force patients to avoid healthcare they are entitled to. If this administration is concerned about the rates of unintended pregnancies, then they should focus on helping patients retain access to birth control and comprehensive sex education. Evidence shows that when people have access to contraception and informative sex-ed programs, the rates of unintended pregnancies decreases. Clearly, the answer is not this exhaustive attack on reproductive health providers. It’s a waste of money and an affront to our human rights.

SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! stands in resistance and calls on everyone to speak out against this gag policy.

TWEET YOUR THOUGHTS! Participate in this conversation by using the hashtags #NoGagRule and #SPARKOFF.

Tag SPARK on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and we will repost your comments.

Interested in being involved with SPARK? Click HERE for more information.

For more information contact:

Dr. Krystal Redman
Executive Director
SPARK Reproductive Justice Now!
Info@sparkrj.org

Atlanta, GA, Tuesday, August 15, 2017: White nationalists gathered this past Saturday for a “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, VA, where a skirmish that can only be described as yet another domestic terror act ensued. The violence tragically ended in the death of a peaceful protester, Heather Heyer, and numerous other injuries at the hands of heavily-armed terrorists carrying everything from baseball bats to assault rifles. The white supremacist rally was staged against the planned removal of a statue of confederate general Robert E. Lee from a public park and followed an unsanctioned torchlit pre-rally Friday night on the University of Virginia campus that had also descended into violence.

Since 2001, the number of violent attacks in the U.S. inspired by far-right ideology has spiked to an average of more than 300 a year, according to a study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The display of violence and hatred in Charlottesville is an unmistakable instance of the white supremacist movement to silence the voices and control the bodies of those most disenfranchised. This violence works to uphold and reinforce dangerous and negative policies, practices, and culture. These actions are acts of terrorism and this terror continues to be the experience of people with marginalized identities in our country. Although this event occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, this kind of vitriol and hatred is not just a “Southern Thing”, it is a symptom of a national system of oppression that strives to completely silence the voices that are historically ignored. The grievance is made even more significant when viewed in light of the Trump administration’s reversal of a grant to a group that works to de-radicalize neo-Nazis, and to direct all funding toward fighting what the president has described as “radical Islamic terrorism.” The Department of Homeland Security had awarded the group $400,000 as part of its Countering Violent Extremism. It was the only group selected for a grant that focused exclusively on fighting white supremacy.

SPARK Reproductive Justice Now! stands firmly against any body or system that seeks to control the bodily autonomy of others and we send our sincere condolences to the victims of Saturday’s terror attack in Charlottesville, especially to the family and friends of Heather Heyer. Our goal is to ensure the liberation of all people, especially Black women, women of color, as well as queer and trans youth of color due to the legacy of systematic oppression of these groups. The resilience of our communities is staggering but our work does not exist in a vacuum and we deeply honor the allyship of people outside these groups. As we move through the coming days, we hope that this tragedy will, at the very least, reopen the conversation about protestors’ rights especially for us in Georgia, where Republican senators recently passed a “Back the Badge” bill that increases penalties for blocking “any highway, street, sidewalk or other public passage.” With this bill, it is evident that white supremacy jeopardizes the safety in our communities daily. Although the Charlottesville event has been highly publicized, attacks on the bodies of people of color, Black women, and queer and trans people are every day assaults. These events are not mutually exclusive and cannot be isolated from each other. They are connected by racism, sexism, heterosexism, and cissexism which contribute to xenophobia, transphobia, and homophobia.

Now is the time to elevate the most marginalized and silenced voices above those who wish to silence them.  It is not enough to “be a good person.” We must be engaged. We must make an intentional effort to foster cultural humility. We must be active in public and in private. We must be loud. We must be brave.

For more information contact:

Dr. Krystal Redman

Executive Director

SPARK Reproductive Justice Now!

404-331-3250

Krystal@sparkrj.org