Dear Friend,

I’m Scottie, editor at Courage California Institute’s Equality on Trial, a project dedicated to covering legal issues pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community.

I first joined Courage in 2012 to analyze court cases regarding anti-LGBTQ+ policies, especially California Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, both of which we successfully overturned. In the ten years since, I’ve seen a lot of progress, but also, more recently, disturbing backlash to change.

Right now, Republicans on the Supreme Court and Congress are pushing an agenda that destroys legal precedents meant to protect all of us, as well as institutions meant to represent all of us. They want us to believe it doesn’t matter who we vote for. They win when voters feel hopeless and stop turning out for universal healthcare, voting rights, the Equality Act, gun reform, and other policies that are popular in the United States.

That’s why it’s especially important for us to fight for our freedoms now. The freedom to define ourselves and our futures. The freedom to choose if and when to grow our families. The freedom to exercise our right to vote.

We can’t wait for our elected leaders to take action -- we, as activists and voters, have successfully won rights and protections for all of our communities before, and it’s up to us to take action now. Our democracy works when we the people are involved in it, voting, and advocating for change. We don’t have to let Republicans win.

The first step is to make sure everyone in our social circle knows what's at stake. You can do that by sharing my most recent blog with your friends and family. Then, stay tuned to Courage California for more actions you can take to take back our country.

Yours in the fight for our freedoms,

Scottie, along with Amber, Angela, Annie, Isidra, Jay, Lindsay, LisaMarie, Mai, Mai, Raquel, and Irene (the Courage team) 

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