THE WORLD NEEDS US

#SpiritDay 2021 will take place on October 21st so start turning your socials purple and get your purple shirt ready to go!

Why is #SpiritDay important in 2021?

Bullying does not just happen on the playground. It happens in our classrooms, families, workforces, communities, in proposed legislation and laws. Media representation of LGBTQ people including film, tv, online and video games has the ability to help counter the dangerous effects of bullying and has become an even more critical means of connection during this unprecedented time for the LGBTQ youth experiencing this epidemic.

A 2021 national survey by The Trevor Project shows “the majority of LGBT youth (52%) who were enrolled in middle or high school report being bullied either in person or electronically in the past year.”

For over a decade, #SpiritDay has been a day when LGBTQ youth can go on social media and find an overwhelming number of messages of acceptance from celebrities, networks, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, and other notables.

For almost two years now, many LGBTQ youth have not been in school, unable to attend in-person meetings of Gay-Straight Alliances, Gender-Sexuality Alliances or on-campus colleges LGBTQ organizations. During this time, LGBTQ youth have also become increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of cyberbullying, specifically with heightened levels of anti-LGBTQ hate and harassment on social media. Some LGBTQ youth may be confined to a home environment that may be unsupportive or abusive. Calls to The Trevor Project’s hotline for LGBTQ youth have at times more than doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Sign the IATSE Petition!

Donate to organizations like The Actors Fund and MPFT

Email or Call the subscription services you use most (Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, Amazon, etc) and voice your support for the strike. Tell them you’ll cancel your subscriptions (and plan to encourage others to do so as well) if they don’t meet the demands.

Don’t use said subscriptions; or even open any of the apps or webpages; at the very least on Monday, Oct 18th, and preferably the days following.

Keep spreading the word and showing vocal support both in person and online, be ready to educate people about what’s going on. Share film industry workers’ personal stories online. Make sure people know about the specific demands of the strike.

do you know whose land you're living on?

if your answer is "no" or "i'm not sure", go here.

you'll find an extensive map that'll answer this question for you, and from there you'll be able to figure out how to help, because just because your history landed you here doesn't mean you can't help us. there's an estimated 30,000 children in makeshift graves that we have yet to fully recover killed in reform schools. our people are dying of diseases caused by horrific living conditions. we're set up for failure from the day we're born by the active genocide against us. countless women and children are missing and murdered to this day. if we can stand to bear this unfathomable horrifying information every day, then you certainly can stand to spread the word and spare some money when you're able. especially if you're living on our land.

it's so, so easy to spread awareness and do what you can to help.

🏳️‍🌈Happy #NationalComingOutDay to those of you who...

🟣Have come out 🟣Are about to come out 🟣Are are unsure whether you want to come out 🟣Want to come out, but feel unsafe 🟣Have come out multiple times 🟣Or never want to come out at all! Coming out should be your own journey, on your own time, when and if you feel ready. You don't have to be out, loud, and proud to be LGBTQ+!

Advocate for the Land Back movement. Demand the charges against Water Protectors are dropped. Demand accessible healthcare for Native communities, demand affordable groceries, demand equal rights for Native Americans. Raise your voices and demand Justice for all the stolen sisters. Speak up when Native communities are mistreated. Donate to the local Tribe. Look up who’s land you are residing on.

Use Crisis Pregnanacy Centers as the clinic location the service was preformed at!

For example, here are a list of crisis pregnancy centers in the Austin area that do not provide abortions, but do harass women out of getting medical care!

Pregnancy Help Center of Williamson County

Agape Pregnancy Resource Center

Pflugerville Pregnancy Resource Center

Austin Pregnancy Resource Center

Heart of Texas Pregnancy Resource Center

TruCare Pregnancy Center

Austin LifeCare/TheSource

And here’s the link to the reporting website: https://prolifewhistleblower.com

This country hasn’t seen this kind of dystopian legal bullshit since Salem.

Access to almost all abortion has just been cut off for millions of people. The impact will be immediate and devastating.

The law bans abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy — before many people even know they’re pregnant. The result is that many Texans will be forced to carry pregnancies against their will.

Private individuals — including anti-abortion activists with no connection to patients — can now sue ANYONE who they believe is providing abortion or assisting someone in accessing abortion after six weeks. 

This could include: 

Health care workers

Clergy

Rideshare drivers

The law doesn’t just allow these lawsuits — it actively encourages private individuals to act as bounty hunters by awarding them at least $10,000 if they are successful.

This is a racial and economic justice catastrophe. Decades of racism and structural inequality within the health care system have left Black and Latinx people and anyone trying to make ends meet with few alternatives to the cruel reality that Texas politicians have created.

This is a full-scale assault on patients, our health care providers, and our support systems. This abortion ban is blatantly unconstitutional. We won’t stop fighting until it’s blocked.

Here is the link to needanabortion.org.

The silence of the Supreme Court has just effectively allowed Texas to overturn Roe vs Wade.

With hurricane Ida within hours of making landfall, while it might be too late to leave, there’s still some time to prepare

Fill containers with (safe to drink) water, freeze them, and stick them in your fridge and freezer. This will help keep it colder if the power goes out and you have extra water. Make sure you leave some room at the top of the containers for the ice to expand.

Set your fridge to the coldest setting as well

If you anticipate the power going out, put your food in trash bags in the fridge. if you lose power for too long and the food goes bad, you can easily throw it out

While this is typically recommended for evacuating, you can still put a coin on top of a frozen cup of water to see if your power was out while you were asleep. If the coin has sunk into the ice, your food probably isn’t good anymore.

Fill your sinks and bathtubs with water in case the water is unsafe or is shut off. You can use it to wash, flush your toilet, etc. 

Related to #2, try to take a shower ahead of time

Also do dishes/laundry if you can since you might not be able to for a few days

Make sure your devices are fully charged. Even if you don’t have internet or service, you can still use your phone as a flashlight and entertainment (no power can get boring real fast)

Make sure all your radios, flashlights, etc have batteries ahead of time. Don’t need to be looking for batteries in the dark

Take pictures of your valuables for insurance

Keep your important documents in a safe in an area that will either not get damaged or that you can quickly take with you if you need to leave in an emergency. In fact, keep an emergency bag packed in case you need to 

Bring any loose items (Chairs, plants, etc) that are in your yard/patio inside.