Indivisibles,

Breaking news: the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that firing someone for being LGBTQ is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act! In other words, we won!

This is a momentous decision and, quite frankly, we didn’t expect to send a celebratory email about this case, especially given the extremely conservative make-up of the Supreme Court at the moment. Seriously -- we didn’t have this version of the email prepared because we assumed that we would lose. 

So with all of the terrible things happening in the world, let’s take a moment to celebrate some good. This landmark victory was made possible by LGBTQ people -- particularly Black trans women -- who led the way and demanded that their voices, their bodies, their personhood mattered and should be protected under the law. Grassroots activists have fought for years to affirm that discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is sex discrimination. And today, they won.

But, let's not forget -- it's 2020 and we STILL have to spell it out: Black Trans Lives Matter. 

We're here because the Trump administration has worked for the last four years to deny the basic human rights of vulnerable communities, attacking Black and brown communities and people who identify as LGBTQ. (In fact, Trump administration lawyers were the ones arguing in this very case that LGBTQ people shouldn’t be protected by federal anti-discrimination laws.)

We're here because the Supreme Court is a broken, partisan extension of the Republican party hell-bent on limiting who can be protected by the law of the land. 

We're here because the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, wrote the dissenting opinion essentially denying that people who are gay or transgender should have equal protection under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He’s reaffirmed what we’ve always known -- he’s a conservative, right-wing hack, and if we don’t win back the White House and Senate this November, Kavanaugh might gain a few more conservative colleagues who actually agree with his backward point of view. And remember, we have a few folks to thank for his confirmation and lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court:

Susan Collins.

Mitch McConnell.

Lindsey Graham.

Martha McSally.

Cory Gardner.

David Perdue.

Joni Ernst.

Thom Tillis.

John Cornyn.

Luckily, these senators are all up for re-election in November and we’ve got a plan to kick them out of office. We launched the Payback Project a few months ago and since then, thousands of Indivisibles have signed up to help take back the Senate in November. Defeating all of Trump’s cronies in the Senate won’t be easy and that’s why we’ll need a massive awareness campaign and a growing grassroots movement to ensure their Democratic opponents have the funding and voters to win. 

Until we take back the Senate, Trump and the GOP will continue attacking vulnerable communities, and the Supreme Court will continue to offer dubious, terrible decisions. If we want to fix the Supreme Court and save our democracy, we have to start with taking back the Senate in November. That’s why we need you to join this fight now.

Last week we emailed you about how we’re ramping up the Payback Project to hold Trump’s GOP Senate allies accountable for their silence and inaction on the most recent examples of police brutality. Their impact on the makeup of the Supreme Court is yet another reason we need to take back the Senate this year. But to make that possible, we’re running ads, producing resources, holding virtual events, sending mail, and more -- and all of that work costs money. If you can, click here to support the Payback Project, take back the Senate, fix the courts, and fund all our work this year. 

In the coming days, we’re going to hear more Supreme Court opinions on key cases -- and they probably won’t be as favorable as this one. As we continue to fight the Trump and GOP agenda, remember that we’ve got an entire movement behind us, and a plan to hold our elected official accountable. With your help, we’ll be getting payback for all of the communities who’ve been hurt by Trump and the GOP’s terrible policies -- and it starts with taking back the Senate and fixing the Supreme Court. We’ve got this.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team