Hi Friends!

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I, and many other anarchists, believe that if you are involved in organizing and protesting, that you have a responsibility to your community to refuse to testify as a witness for a grand jury. this almost always means jail time for contempt of court (for up to 18 months max) as a result, which is definitely a large sacrifice, but is something i believe is so fucking important when it comes to keeping our communities safe. this also means that our communities need to be prepared to offer robust support to our comrades who are sacrificing so much to keep our communities safe. we need to never abandon people to fight state repression alone.

i think that it is really important for people to start thinking through what their response would be to getting subpoenaed for a grand jury way before you get in a position where you're taking action or participating in communities where this might be a concern. and if you start learning about grand jury resistance and realize that that the logistics of resistance feel impossible for you to actually be able to do, i don't think that's something that you need to feel shame about. but i do think that then means you need structure your organizing and protesting life in such a way where you are not involved in communities that are taking felony-level risks. i cannot emphasize enough how unacceptable it is to become an informant for the state, and even if you tell yourself you're not going to give away any implicating or private information, any information you give to prosecutors helps them map networks and build cases. i really do think that we all have a moral obligation to keep each other safe, and when people participate in state repression and testify in grand juries, they are throwing their comrades under the bus to save themselves at the expense of their comrades freedom.

i'll link some resources to learn more and share a quote from Katie Yow, a grand jury resistor in 2017.

"The state demeans everything that we hold dear when they threaten us in this way. The most free and wild thing we have in this world is our love for each other, and we know that our health, our safety, and our liberation can only exist in a world without their cops, their courts, and their cages. Our strength lies in knowing that we can provide that for each other, and that nothing they offer or threaten is worth betraying our commitment to our communities.

“As state repression escalates, I know that all of us are struggling with the trauma and the grief that comes from the forces we fight against, and the vulnerability that we feel to the state in its despicable efforts to attack us. What I also know, what I believe with all my heart and everything I have, is that we have the strength we need to take care of each other and to fight back until we win.”- Katie Yow

Resources:

Grand Jury Resistance Project

I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.

The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.

Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.

A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:

Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.

Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.

Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns

Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.

I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.

It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:

FLY is a story about a boy who gets a second chance. Help his story take flight June 9th 11am EST on Kickstarter. Thank you for being the wind beneath my wings I hope this story lifts the world to a brighter place.

A couple scenes from a little gay vampire story I was kicking around a couple years ago! I sometimes do little pencils-only scenes for things and never post them. But I was looking back at these and was like why not? They're cute!

When Life Gives You Corpses is a brilliant YA about a cursed praying mantis who falls for a young witch. Yield Under Great Persuasion is a raunchy, but surprisingly sweet story about two men repairing their relationship. Fabulous Bodies is a horror story about a queer rockstar rising from the dead.

This is Where the Future Bleeds is a fantasy set in a vividly imagined land, where two women (who happen to kiss) are the key to healing the broken sky. You're No Better is a story about a teen struggling in the shadow of his murderous parent. Oil on Canvas is about a woman who finds disturbing paintings in the home of her dead mother.

At the 1985 Labour party meet, the motion to support LGBT rights as a party was passed due to a block vote from mining unions.