Randomperson

Evan here from Fight for the Future. I want to let you in on a little secret: things may seem pretty gloomy, but we are actually winning the fight against the dangerous censorship bill called the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).1

Something huge happened during the last Senate hearing on KOSA that totally flew under the radar in the news. But it’s really significant.

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), one of the top Senators on the committee who’s seen as a leader on children’s online safety, issued a statement criticizing KOSA and echoing our concerns about how it could be weaponized by Trump to target LGBTQ+ youth.2

It would have been easier for Senator Markey to just stay silent on a controversial vote. The fact that he issued a statement is a sign that our grassroots advocacy is working. All the phone calls, emails, letters to the editor, and protests are making a real difference. There are cracks in the wall. But we have to keep pushing.

We are leading the charge against KOSA and bad Internet bills with our coalition of dozens of organizations and tens of thousands of ordinary people just like you. Will you chip in to help fund the fight?

DONATE TO STOP KOSA

For decades, politicians have co-opted the language of “protecting children” to ram through legislation that threatens our basic rights. We are finally starting to win against this false narrative: more and more people understand that censorship and surveillance make kids less safe, not more safe.

But now Big Tech giants like OpenAI and Microsoft have thrown their weight behind KOSA, and billionaires are pouring money into lobbying for it and similarly dangerous “age verification” bills.3,4

We’re on a knifes edge. In the next couple years, we are either going to resoundingly defeat these types of dangerous bills, or they are going to become commonplace around the world. I hope you’ll pitch in to help steer us toward the right side of history.

Thanks for all you do,

-Evan at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

Stop KOSA: https://www.stopkosa.com/

Markey Statement: https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-statement-on-commerce-committee-markup-of-kosa

TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/31/x-microsoft-kosa-kids-online-safety-bill/

This is a major victory: two San Francisco gay bars just announced they’ll stop using AI-powered face scanners, after sustained pressure from our boycott campaign against AI surveillance in venues.1 Pressure from folks like you—along with the 300+ artists and venues who signed our pledge— made this happen. Now, we’re moving fast to seize this moment and get this dangerous tech out of even more venues.2

Can you make a donation of any size today? Anything you can spare helps us leverage this win into a nationwide movement that eradicates invasive facial recognition at events.

DONATE TO BAN AI SURVEILLANCE

As a fast-moving crew led by artist-organizers, Fight for the Future is the only group that’s really positioned to do this type of activism x culture campaigning. We’ve been bringing creators and artists into our anti-surveillance fights for years, and we know that, especially when it comes to live performance spaces, they are critical advocates. Our ability to organize the right audiences and get attention on these issues in the press is key to achieving wins like this.

But we also deeply rely on the support of folks like you to make all this organizing work possible. So if you're down to throw in the cost of a cover charge per month to help us leverage this win, we can’t thank you enough. An AI surveillance dystopia is not inevitable. We’ll keep fighting to get this tech out of our communities and hope you’ll join us. With gratitude, Reem at Fight for the Future P.S. If you haven’t already, make sure to share the pledge to boycott AI surveillance in venues with your favorite artists and spaces.

Footnotes:

San Francisco Chronicle: https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/tech-companies/popular-sf-gay-bars-ditch-facial-recognition-technology-after-pressure-campaign/ar-AA29IFjs

Just wanted to update you on the Senate Commerce Committee session that took place yesterday on the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and SCREEN Act. Here’s the good news: the SCREEN Act, which 404 Media recently called a “Christian nationalist nightmare,”1 failed to advance. Given it would have instated nationwide age verification for any site hosting even a piece of adult content, plus brought further scrutiny to VPN usage, we’re relieved. Now to the bad: the Senate version of KOSA, which includes the especially dangerous “duty of care” language, passed unanimously out of committee.2 To be honest, we’re not surprised. And this version is different enough from the House version passed earlier this year that we still have a lot of opportunity to keep it from becoming a law.

But there’s still an important reason to keep up the pressure: lawmakers’ calculated political cowardice. Instead of actually passing workable policy that challenges Big Tech’s predatory business model, Congress has repeatedly shown they’d rather perform kids safety theater for political points. Meanwhile, Big Tech companies—more of which now support KOSA than oppose it—keep exploiting our data for profit.3

It’s beyond time to break this toxic cycle. Every hearing, markup, and vote wasted on KOSA and other bad Internet bills gives Big Tech more leeway to exploit us. Tell lawmakers to stop the KOSA theater and pass real privacy protections for everyone:

KEEP UP THE PRESSURE

One other piece of good news amid the bad: Senator Markey (D-MA) came out with a statement against KOSA after the vote yesterday.4 Getting a leader like him to speak up on behalf of the concerns of rights groups and LGBTQ+ folks is a big deal, and we think it can help push other lawmakers to take stronger stances against KOSA as well. It’s a sign our organizing is working, we just have to keep it going.

P.S. As you may know, we’ve been fighting KOSA for a long time. And we’re not going to stop. If you can, consider chipping in today to keep up this ongoing fight together.

Footnotes:

404 Media: https://www.404media.co/what-is-the-screen-act-age-verification-porn/

Press release: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2026-08-05-senate-commerce-passes-censorship-bill-kosa-out-of-committee-screen-act-fails/

Press release: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2026-06-17-press-release-meta-latest-big-tech-company-to-back-kosa/

Markey Statement: https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/markey-statement-on-commerce-committee-markup-of-kosa

Big news: 25 members of Congress just sent Lowe's and Home Depot executives a formal letter, grilling them on ICE activity and their use of surveillance in stores.1 As you know, Lowe’s is one of Flock Safety’s biggest commercial customers that also directly shares its footage with law enforcement.2 That means thousands of creepy Flock license plate readers are scanning customers’ cars as they come and go in and out of stores, including immigrants and day laborers. Now that lawmakers are paying attention,it's getting harder for Lowe's to ignore us.  Can you help ramp up the pressure by hosting or joining a NoALPRs Week of Action event at your local Lowe's the week of August 16th?

Join or host an action!

Organizing an action is really simple:

Check out the map to see if there is already an action at a nearby Lowe's store, and if not, pick a date and time and submit it so we can put your event on the map!

Recruit some friends, family or other groups you know to join you. We can also help with this.

Download and print the flyer (and/or poster), and on the day of your event go hand out flyers in front of the store.

That's it! It's simple but will make a huge difference, especially the more events we have. If you have any questions we are here to support you, so just reply and we'll be in touch!

Download the flyer

We've already got a handful of actions planned for the week --can you help add another to the map to up the pressure on Lowe's and get them to drop their contract with Flock?

Every step you take makes a huge difference. Thanks for all that you do. In solidarity, Reem at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

Press Release: https://chu.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/chu-evo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-letter-to-home-depot-and-lowe-s-on-immigration-enforcement-activity.pdf

Censorship bills disguised as “kids safety” bills are moving in Congress again. Tomorrow, the Senate Commerce Committee will consider the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and SCREEN Act, two of the most dangerous censorship and age verification bills currently on the table. It’s go-time: call your lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing and tell them to block any legislation that age-gates the Internet and violates our privacy!

CALL NOW

Together, these bills would allow Trump’s FTC to wipe abortion, sex ed, and LGBTQ resources off the Internet while instating nationwide age verification requirements for any site that hosts even a single piece of adult content.1 That could mean scanning your face or sending in your government ID just to watch Netflix or post on Bluesky. What’s more, the latest version of SCREEN Act compels websites to monitor and age verify activity from “known VPN addresses,” risking restrictions on a critical privacy tool that keeps activists, journalists, and survivors safe online.2 This fight is not about saving the kids. If it was, Congress would pass comprehensive privacy legislation to actually hold Big Tech accountable. It’s about defending our ability to organize, access healthcare, and find community online. It’s no coincidence that lawmakers are pushing these bills to de-anonymize the Internet and restrict free speech during especially fascist times.3 Or that so many Big Tech companies now support some version of them.4 These bills must face fierce resistance every step of the way.

If you’ve taken action already, please take a few minutes to call again or find more actions at BadInternetBills.com. Your support has been critical in stopping these bills in the past, and we can’t let up now. Thanks so much, and we’ll keep you posted on what happens next. Together against censorship, Sarah Philips at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/91377373/trumps-ftc-spreading-lies-about-trans-people-kosa

EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/screen-act-threatens-privacy-far-beyond-adult-websites

The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2026/03/05/kosa-online-age-verification-free-speech-privacy/

Meta just rolled out, and then quickly bailed on, an AI tool that let’s you manipulate content from anyone with a public account, just by @-ing them.1 Their reasoning? The swift backlash showed them they “missed the mark.”

Meta does care what you think. That’s why we’re running campaigns calling on them to bring back end-to-end encryption for Instagram DMs and fulfill their promise of privacy messaging for all.2 Big Tech companies want you to think they’re untouchable. But their dirty secret is that they’re vulnerable to pressure from people like you.

We’ve been leveraging that pressure strategically for years toward big wins like scaling back Amazon Ring police3 and Flock partnerships,4 and getting Apple and Google to end-to-end encrypt our messages.5 Now, with Big Tech and bad government teaming up6 to nuke our safety and privacy in the most evil ways they can manage,7 we’re at a critical juncture. Either we dig in and build winning campaigns, or we let Big Tech greed decide who in our communities is disposable. If you believe in what we can accomplish together, will you throw down with us?

GIVE TO FIGHT

Every dollar funds critical campaigns aimed at stopping the worst abuses by companies like Meta,2 Flock,8 and their collaborators. Unlike them, we don’t have millions in lobbying funds, high-powered lawyers, or the ear of the fascists in charge. But we do have a track record of winning with people power, helped along by folks like you giving the cost of a coffee per month to make it happen. See you in the fight,

Alex at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/10/meta-removes-controversial-ai-feature-on-instagram-after-backlash/

Tell Meta: Don’t Sell Our Safety for Profit: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/meta-promised-safe-dms-but-is-selling-us-out

Widespread Backlash Forces Amazon Ring to Scale Back Police Surveillance Partnerships: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2021-06-03-widespread-backlash-forces-amazon-ring-to-scale

Notorious Surveillance Company Amazon Cancels Ring-Flock Partnership: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2026-02-17-notorious-surveillance-company-amazon-cancels-ring-flock-partnership/

Mac Rumors: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/04/ios-26-5-rcs-encryption/

NPR: https://www.npr.org/2024/12/13/nx-s1-5227874/trump-bezos-zuckerberg-amazon-facebook-open-ai-meta-inauguration-fund

All the Ways Palantir is Assisting Trump’s Abusive Removal Campaign: https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/palantir-deportation-roundup

You might have seen that a bill package including the notorious Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) passed out of the House in a rushed vote last week.1 This bill and many of its counterparts would lock large swaths of the Internet behind invasive online ID checks and threaten our ability to speak out online.2 This is far from the end of the road. And calls and messages from people like you have made a huge impact. We’ve been fighting these bills for years, and I can tell you with certainty that the tide is turning. Legislators are shifting, fearmongering “kids safety” arguments are losing their grip, and we’re building a strong, diverse movement of people refusing censorship. KOSA is not yet law, and with the House and Senate disagreeing on fundamental provisions, we have a critical opportunity to build momentum against this legislation and other nonsensical Bad Internet Bills that threaten to kill the Internet as we know it. Now’s the time to dig in. Call and tell your lawmakers how you feel about the KIDS Act passing. Then, check out our brand new Bad Internet Bills tracker, where you can take targeted action against all the most dangerous bills threatening encryption, free expression, and community online.

KEEP UP THE FIGHT

If you’re not sure how your rep voted last week, you can check here.3 Together, Matt at Fight for the Future

P.S. If you believe in our anti-censorship work and can spare the cost of a coffee per month toward the fight, we’d so appreciate it.

Footnotes:

NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/kids-internet-and-digital-safety-act-passes-house-free-speech-concerns-rcna352341

EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/kids-act-would-require-age-checks-get-online

At least we can say we're ending Pride Month with a bang. As we wrap up our celebrations, we've been pushing more than 4,000 calls to DC, where lawmakers are yet again set to vote on legislation1 that would wall off LGBTQ+ content and voices behind dangerous online ID checks.2 Censorship threats like these won't just got away—we have to make them. And after years of fighting off the same dangerous legislation session after session,2,3 I won't lie: resources are drying up, and we need your help. We set out to raise $15k this Pride Month, funds our small team sorely needs to run anti-censorship campaigns year-round. But with just one more day left in June, we're only a third of the way there. I'm hoping you can pitch in today:

GIVE TO FIGHT CENSORSHIP

Weeks like these are a crucial slice of the struggle. It takes a lot of resources to mobilize massive call-ins to Congress, send vote recommendations to offices, drum up online resistance, and secure thoughtful press coverage. But we're also playing the long game. Donations from folks like you guarantee that we can build out an anti-censorship movement that dreams bigger than shooting down the worst threats. We deserve good, privacy-preserving legislation that actually protects us from Big Tech greed without requiring we scan our faces or submit IDs to engage in our favorite fandoms, access LGBTQ+ or reproductive health resources, organize a protest, or game with friends. We have a vision: of youth4 and parents5 joining up against censorship, of an intersectional coalition of groups denouncing queerphobic think tanks6 and their disingenuous "protect the kids" messaging. With your support, we can make it happen. If you're with us, throw us a few bucks or consider starting a monthly gift. Even $5 or $10 a month makes a huge difference for an org of our size! Thanks for everything you do. With Pride, Alex at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

Politico: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/06/22/congress/guthrie-and-pallone-cement-deal-for-kids-online-safety-package-00969686Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/some-democrats-are-helping-the-trump-admins-anti-lgbtq-tech-agenda

KOSA is dead. Now it’s time to unite to take on Big Tech for real: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2024-08-01-kosa-is-dead-now-its-time-to-unite-to-take-on-big-tech-for-real/

Youth Against KOSA: www.youthagainstkosa.com/

Parents Against Censorship: https://www.parentsagainstcensorship.com

Bad Internet Bills, disguised as “kids safety” bills, are moving through Congress again.1

If you’ve been around for our years-long fight against the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)2 and its similarly disastrous friends like the SCREEN Act,3 you know what time it is. Let’s get phones in Congress ringing off the hook with one simple message: we refuse any bill that age restricts, censors, and surveils the Internet.

STOP BAD INTERNET BILLS

Like always, we expect proponents of these bills to tell you that they want to hold Big Tech accountable. But it’s beyond time we see past their BS. The reality is, more Big Tech companies support bills like KOSA than oppose them.4 Most recently, Meta dropped its opposition to KOSA, salivating at the promise of federal preemption of state AI regulations that lawmakers are trying to package with it.5 That’s the same Meta that has allegedly poured millions of dollars into groups lobbying for the App Store Accountability Act.6

Companies like Meta may be evil, but they’re not stupid: they’re doing what best protects their business model and bottom line. They know that bills like KOSA provide good cover from heat about kids safety, while skirting real change that would better protect everyone’s safety and privacy online, like comprehensive privacy legislation, algorithmic justice, and antitrust action. Don’t let lawmakers distort reality. These “kids safety” bills will harm more than they help. Call now and demand lawmakers pass real protections for everyone, not censorship bills. Solidarity, Sarah Philips at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

Politico: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/06/22/congress/guthrie-and-pallone-cement-deal-for-kids-online-safety-package-00969686 Gadget Review: https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech

Stop KOSA: https://www.stopkosa.com/

Stop the SCREEN Act: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/stop-the-screen-act/

TechDirt: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/05/14/openais-kosa-endorsement-is-regulatory-capture-with-a-smiley-face/

I'm hoping you caught this. Looks like the fight against dangerous facial recognition technology in gay bars is heating up. Bar owners are denying the tech does what it does, companies are downplaying harm, and patrons are getting rightfully riled up.1 All this leading up to San Francisco Pride this weekend…

We have a key opportunity to gain ground against facial recognition tech this week. If we can get SF gay bars to stop putting their patrons at risk during Pride Month, we’re one step closer to surveillance-free queer spaces year-round, for good.

We’re moving fast to organize performers, patrons, and privacy nerds to take a stand at SF Pride in just a few days’ time. Can you rush a donation to the campaign today to make it happen?

DONATE NOW

Footnotes: 1. SF Gazetteer: https://sf.gazetteer.co/privacy-rights-advocates-push-back-against-data-collection-devices-in-castro-bars

Did you know that at least three gay bars in San Francisco are using dystopian face-scanning technology on their patrons?1

That means that businesses that claim to foster safety and community are building secret, unaccountable lists of everyone who walks through their doors—during an enormous wave of political persecution against queer and trans people.

Bars say facial recognition makes people safer. That is an utter lie. Take action ASAP to tell these businesses to keep creepy biometric surveillance out of our queer spaces:

TAKE ACTION

Venues that use facial recognition to scan and track their visitors are, fundamentally, building lists of gender and sexual minorities and their allies. What’s just as scary: we have no idea how many LGBTQ+ spaces are using this tech, how long the data is stored, and who has access to it.

The spread of surveillance tech through LGBTQ+ venues is a crisis for our community.

Facial recognition is dangerous for everyone, but it carries special risks for queer and trans people. Certain states are already building databases of trans people.2 Other states and agencies are demanding trans people’s medical histories3 and other sensitive data.4 This, as powerful political figures push for our reeducation and eradication.

We’ve seen this movie before, and it does not end well. LGBTQ+ venues that use biometric surveillance technology, including facial recognition, must remove it, scrap the data, and apologize to their patrons. All others should commit to keeping their community safe by rejecting surveillance technology—now and forever. Tell these businesses how you feel now, and share this action if you can.

In solidarity, Anna and the team at Fight

Footnotes:

Gazetteer SF: https://sf.gazetteer.co/why-do-these-castro-gay-bars-have-tsa-style-face-scanners

LGBTQ Nation: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/05/gop-gov-signs-harmful-law-creating-a-state-database-of-trans-patients/

LGBTQ Nation: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/06/the-admin-is-trying-to-collect-trans-kids-medical-information-so-families-are-suing/

We’re launching something important for Pride Month.

For a long time, we’ve known that there are some less-than-scrupulous people working on tech policy. It turns out that several powerful anti-LGBTQ+ organizations have infiltrated the movement—lobbying for bills like KOSA and pretending to be experts on what keeps kids safe online.1

The Heritage Foundation, NCOSE, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the Eagle Forum are Religious Right groups that have been active for decades.2 They got their start opposing marriage equality and fighting abortion rights. Now, they’re trying to blacklist LGBTQ+ and abortion speech.

This Pride Month, we're asking digital rights groups to cut ties with the Religious Right. If you agree that that anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups have no place in this movement, sign our letter now.

SIGN NOW

Unfortunately, the digital rights space is small, and Heritage et al. are sneaky. We learned that some digital rights groups have collaborated with the Religious Right—whether they know it or not.

Humanpower can feel scarce in the digital rights movement, and sometimes we work with people with whom we disagree. But we have to draw a line: collaborating with hate groups is unacceptable, especially as LGBTQ+ people are being targeted by a government partially staffed by Religious Right figures.

If you can sign, thanks in advance. If you know or work with organizations who would like to be a listed signatory on the open letter, indicate that on the form and we’ll be in touch.

In solidarity,

Footnotes:

Them: https://www.them.us/story/kids-online-safety-act-kosa-youth-lgbtq-content

Did you know that at least three gay bars in San Francisco are using dystopian face-scanning technology on their patrons?1

That means that businesses that claim to foster safety and community are building secret, unaccountable lists of everyone who walks through their doors—during an enormous wave of political persecution against queer and trans people.

Bars say facial recognition makes people safer. That is an utter lie. Take action ASAP to tell these businesses to keep creepy biometric surveillance out of our queer spaces:

TAKE ACTION

Venues that use facial recognition to scan and track their visitors are, fundamentally, building lists of gender and sexual minorities and their allies. What’s just as scary: we have no idea how many LGBTQ+ spaces are using this tech, how long the data is stored, and who has access to it.

The spread of surveillance tech through LGBTQ+ venues is a crisis for our community.

Facial recognition is dangerous for everyone, but it carries special risks for queer and trans people. Certain states are already building databases of trans people.2 Other states and agencies are demanding trans people’s medical histories3 and other sensitive data.4 This, as powerful political figures push for our reeducation and eradication.

We’ve seen this movie before, and it does not end well. LGBTQ+ venues that use biometric surveillance technology, including facial recognition, must remove it, scrap the data, and apologize to their patrons. All others should commit to keeping their community safe by rejecting surveillance technology—now and forever. Tell these businesses how you feel now, and share this action if you can.

In solidarity, Anna and the team at Fight P.S. Want to help grow our power as a small queer and trans-led org to fight back against BS surveillance like this? Read more about our work and chip in here. Any amount helps!

Footnotes:

Gazetteer SF: https://sf.gazetteer.co/why-do-these-castro-gay-bars-have-tsa-style-face-scanners

LGBTQ Nation: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/05/gop-gov-signs-harmful-law-creating-a-state-database-of-trans-patients/

LGBTQ Nation: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/06/the-admin-is-trying-to-collect-trans-kids-medical-information-so-families-are-suing/

The backlash to AI is real, and it’s growing. People don’t want broken tools surveilling them and polluting the Internet with slop, all while driving up energy costs where they live.

AI affects everyone differently. But here’s what scares me: the unique risks AI poses to LGBTQ+ people have barely been explored.

This fall, we want to launch a set of projects to research and expose the ways AI specifically hurts queer and trans people. These projects take advantage of our unique position as a queer- and women-led organization with over a decade of tech advocacy experience.

But funding’s tight—like it is for any project critical of AI. Can you help us power these projects with a recurring donation?

FUND CAMPAIGNS FOR AI JUSTICE

We know AI has disparate impacts on different groups of people.

AI identity verification tools locking trans people out of the Internet for not having “normal” government IDs1

AI-generated propaganda pushes people towards far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ views

Chatbots using insecure data storage that could expose people's therapy sessions or identity exploration

All of this during the most anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-AI presidency ever.2

Civil society needs to understand just how dangerous AI can be for queer people. Then we need to build a bulwark against the dangerous AI companies that want to capture our future.

Queer- and trans-led advocacy is essential here. Otherwise, we’ll get the same “solutions” that purport to protect kids—but really would wipe LGBTQ+ information and communities from the Internet. We’ll get government backdoors that violate our privacy. We’ll get biased algorithmic systems that push queer people out of legal recognition and public life.

Your donation will build out this capacity, enabling things like:

A publication connecting the dots between AI investment and the homophobic, transphobic tech bosses seeking control over our lives

Our ceaseless fight against age verification bills pushed by anti-LGBTQ+ groups

A campaign to kick facial recognition out of Pride events for good

Become a sustaining donor and help us make it happen. We need 21 more to reach our goal for the month!

Yours,

Footnotes:

1. Tech Policy Press: https://www.techpolicy.press/age-verification-is-locking-trans-people-out-of-the-internet/

Happy pride to us all. And especially to any queer femmes out there just trying to exist who, like me, are using a VPN right now.

A quality VPN is a very important tool for privacy. They protect us from malicious scammers on iffy wifi, from what we do online being surveilled by the people and institutions that would do us harm. They hide the location we’re browsing from, so that creeps can’t mess with us at home. In a word, they help keep us safe.

They’re also essential for access to community. They let us dodge censorship and join the online world from the perspective that’s best for us. This means a lot as walls go up around queer digital life in the US, and also to people around the world whose love and identities are criminalized. In a word, they keep us alive.

So what are states like Utah and Michigan trying to do?

Ban them, of course!

At Fight for the Future, we’ve been slapping these lawmakers upside the head: holding a VPN Day of Action1, dragging Utah’s nonsensical law even as they delayed its rollout2, heaping shade on Michigan3, and generally organizing so that there’s an actual resistance to protect these crucial tools.

But we’ve got to be real: nobody’s really been funding this work except our grassroots supporters. And there is a lot more that we need to do.

So, if you can (and like I said, we get that we’re all just trying to exist out here), would you consider becoming a monthly donor to help us keep going on VPN defense?

This pride, we are really hoping to get support from 30 new monthly donors. We already have 6 this month - wanna help get us into double digits? To thank you, you can pick out a special piece of pride merch.

If you’ve got it, you’ve got it. If you don’t, don’t stress. We’ll keep fighting with everything we have!

Wishing you a little too much fun this June,

Lia at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

TechRadar: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/we-want-to-make-some-noise-advocates-are-stepping-in-to-defend-vpns-and-they-need-your-help

Fight for the Future Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYDjrjoPIJa/

 i wanted to make sure you caught this. If you’ve got a sec to read and share the Pride 2026 page, or make a donation of any size, it goes a long way in helping us fight the censorship bills threatening LGBTQ+ resources and voices online. With Pride, as in, f-censorship,

Alex at Fight Fight for the Future is one of the only queer and trans-led groups throwing down to defend our communities at the intersection of LGBTQ+ rights and tech justice. This past year, we’ve seen a wave of proposed ID check mandates,1 VPN bans,2 AI-powered surveillance,3 and censorship bills targeting our community on a scale we have never seen before, and putting everyone at risk. We’ve been pouring an immense amount of our scarce policy advocacy resources into blocking the worst of these efforts on the state4 and national level.5 But that money is drying up. We can’t wait till the end of the year for more resources to materialize: censorship is accelerating right now. And it’s killing us.

FUND ANTI-CENSORSHIP WORK YEAR-ROUND

We just launched our Pride 2026 page that highlights our most pressing campaigns and sets a baseline goal to ensure we can continue this work through the end of the year: $15,000 and 30 new monthly sustainers by June 30th. Please, take a moment to browse our work, and start a monthly gift to sustain our anti-censorship campaigns year-round. Policy tracking, coordinating with peer orgs and impacted groups on the ground, driving calls and emails, organizing protests, getting our angle in the press, securing meetings with offices, raising viral hell, and building and maintaining the tech tools that make it all happen: that’s all happening behind the scenes of successful campaigns like Queers Against Censorship,6 Stop Online ID Checks,7 and Flock Out.8 And it all runs on support from folks like you. Fascists won’t stop at targeting queer and trans people. Their normalization of surveillance and their vision of a sanitized, age-gated, and tightly controlled Internet harms us all. Your solidarity this month helps us fight year-round for an Internet where everyone gets to be free, safe, private, and proud.Thanks for everything you do, Alex and the team at Fight for the Future P.S. You can help by sharing the Pride 2026 page and shouting out our work if donating isn’t in the cards. Any way you can spread the word is so appreciated. Footnotes:

Governing: https://www.governing.com/policy/states-are-increasingly-trying-to-keep-kids-off-social-media

Tech Radar: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/a-waste-of-money-digital-rights-group-slams-utahs-new-impossible-by-design-vpn-restrictions-under-controversial-age-verification-law

CNET: https://www.cnet.com/home/security/when-flock-comes-to-town-why-cities-are-axing-the-controversial-surveillance-technology/

Stop Online ID Checks in MA: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2026-05-13-50-human-rights-groups-release-letter-urging-massachusetts-lawmakers-to-reject-age-verification-bills-hold-press-conference-with-rep-mike-connolly/

Section 230: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2025-12-18-statement-2026-year-online-protest-dies/

Queers Against Censorship: https://www.queersagainstcensorship.com/

Stop Online ID Checks: https://www.stoponlineidchecks.org/

I know this isn’t the only email you’ll get for Pride Month, so I’ll try to keep it to the point. Fight for the Future is one of the only queer and trans-led groups throwing down to defend our communities at the intersection of LGBTQ+ rights and tech justice. This past year, we’ve seen a wave of proposed ID check mandates,1 VPN bans,2 AI-powered surveillance,3 and censorship bills targeting our community on a scale we have never seen before, and putting everyone at risk. We’ve been pouring an immense amount of our scarce policy advocacy resources into blocking the worst of these efforts on the state4 and national level.5 But that money is drying up. We can’t wait till the end of the year for more resources to materialize: censorship is accelerating right now. And it’s killing us.

FUND ANTI-CENSORSHIP WORK YEAR-ROUND

We just launched our Pride 2026 page that highlights our most pressing campaigns and sets a baseline goal to ensure we can continue this work through the end of the year: $15,000 and 30 new monthly sustainers by June 30th. Please, take a moment to browse our work, and start a monthly gift to sustain our anti-censorship campaigns year-round. Policy tracking, coordinating with peer orgs and impacted groups on the ground, driving calls and emails, organizing protests, getting our angle in the press, securing meetings with offices, raising viral hell, and building and maintaining the tech tools that make it all happen: that’s all happening behind the scenes of successful campaigns like Queers Against Censorship,6 Stop Online ID Checks,7 and Flock Out.8 And it all runs on support from folks like you. Fascists won’t stop at targeting queer and trans people. Their normalization of surveillance and their vision of a sanitized, age-gated, and tightly controlled Internet harms us all. Your solidarity this month helps us fight year-round for an Internet where everyone gets to be free, safe, private, and proud.

Thanks for everything you do, Alex and the team at Fight for the Future P.S. You can help by sharing the Pride 2026 page and shouting out our work if donating isn’t in the cards. Any way you can spread the word is so appreciated.

Footnotes:

Governing: https://www.governing.com/policy/states-are-increasingly-trying-to-keep-kids-off-social-media

Tech Radar: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/a-waste-of-money-digital-rights-group-slams-utahs-new-impossible-by-design-vpn-restrictions-under-controversial-age-verification-law

CNET: https://www.cnet.com/home/security/when-flock-comes-to-town-why-cities-are-axing-the-controversial-surveillance-technology/

Stop Online ID Checks in MA: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2026-05-13-50-human-rights-groups-release-letter-urging-massachusetts-lawmakers-to-reject-age-verification-bills-hold-press-conference-with-rep-mike-connolly/

Section 230: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2025-12-18-statement-2026-year-online-protest-dies/

Queers Against Censorship: https://www.queersagainstcensorship.com/

Stop Online ID Checks: https://www.stoponlineidchecks.org/