Louisianans and Texans hold forum to defend abortion and trans rights
New Orleans, LA – On December 11, people from Texas and Louisiana came together to discuss recent attacks on reproductive freedom and transgender rights. They held an in-person forum at the New Orleans First Unitarian Universalist Church, with virtual attendance through Zoom and social media.
Participants spoke out against the Supreme Court for validating the Texas abortion ban. Some speakers discussed their experiences rallying against the 15-week ban in Mississippi, which currently threatens the limited right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. Finally, the forum connected these attacks to the transgender sports ban that passed in Texas. A nearly identical one failed in Louisiana earlier this year, after encountering a mass LGBT movement. Both the sports bans targeted trans and gender non-conforming kids in athletics.
Speakers pushed for solidarity between people seeking abortions and transgender community members. Both deserve the freedom to control their own bodies, and both are facing attacks from billionaire-backed evangelical ultraconservatives.
Louisiana speakers included Pearl Ricks of the Reproductive Justice Action Collective, Mar Ehrlich of Real Name Campaign NOLA, and Jessica Frankel of the Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom. Desarae Lindsey, a progressive member of the Texas Libertarian Party, spoke as well. Real Name Campaign organized the event.