Across the country, attacks on the queer community, particularly as they relate to our schools and trans youth, has been growing. At the local level over the past year, there have been threats against queer teachers and youth, and against drag story time events designed to celebrate and model literacy, diversity, inclusion and love. We understand that these attacks are directly tied to groups that promote white supremacist, racist, misogynist ideology, and that we must join together to keep ourselves safe.
In May 2023, following a transphobic, homophobic hate-filled anonymous letter published in the local Good Times newspaper (see the paper’s response and a letter by drag artists Xinistra and Rogue), the Rainbow Defense Coalition of Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley was formed around Watsonville’s first Drag Storytime event. Founding orgs included Raices y Cariño Family Center, Pajaro Valley Pride, SURJ Santa Cruz County, and TransFamilies; other groups have since joined the Coalition and close to a hundred volunteers have signed up to join regular workshops and brigades to defend queer and BIPOC spaces with fierce love and joy, as well as skills in empathic de-escalation and bystander intervention.
In September 2023, the Safe Schools Project alerted a network of concerned individuals and organizations about an event being planned by various groups aligned with the far right group Moms for Liberty. With leadership from Pajaro Valley Pride, based in Watsonville – where the event was also planned – the group decided to respond to the threat with a focus on outreach to friendly local media to alert the public, and a collective letter signed by 44 local community-based groups entitled A far-right hate group is trying to recruit in Santa Cruz County; we stand united to say ‘No’. Local public officials took note: Santa Cruz County Superintendent Farris Sabbah responded to the threat in his weekly newsletter, and three prominent State Representatives made it clear that they have the backs of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Community members showed up to local school board meetings to ensure the passage of resolutions supporting LGBTQ+ history and the flying of the Pride flag.
Take Action/SHOW UP!
Resolutions and public statements are powerful and important but don’t protect from attacks on their own. Rainbow Defense Brigades have helped add color, joy and safety to events like the Safe Schools Project’s tri-county wide Queer Trans and Ally Youth Summit and Queer Prom.
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