We’re coming to the end of Pride Month amidst an environment of escalating attacks from the right on queer and trans people. 

Tonight, we speak to two grassroots organizers working on self-defense programs for queer, trans, and people of color in NYC and the Bay Area. We hear from Kenji of Soar Over Hate and DJ Guerrilla Pump of We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For on how they are protecting their communities by organizing educational programs, creating art and healing practices, distributing tools and resources, and uniting community care with self-defense.

We’re also joined live tonight by Aaron Fernando, a member of the Queens DSA Electoral Organizing Committee, to discuss yesterday’s primary election results. Because of the redistricting debacle, New York is holding two primaries this summer with voters weighing in on Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Assembly races yesterday.

DSA For the Many endorsed four socialist Assembly Members for re-election and five new candidates for the Assembly. All the incumbent DSA members won their primaries, some by a very large margin,but of the five new candidates only Sarahana Shrestha, running in the Hudson Valley won her race outright, toppling 13-term incumbent Kevin Cahill who has held the seat since 1999. Samy Nemir Olivares’ race against Erik Dilan in Bushwick and Cypress Hills is still too close to call with Samy trailing by about 200 votes.

To learn more about queer self-defense programs and how you can get involved and support, visit soaroverhate.org and wevebeenwaitingforus.org.

To learn more about getting involved in upcoming races to elect DSA endorsed candidates for senate visit fortheturnout.nyc

Peninsula DSA Condemns SCOTUS Ruling on Dobbs, Calls for Interstate Solidarity

SAN MATEO, June 28, 2022 — On Friday, June 24, the US Supreme Court released their 6–3 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, using anti-scientific and ahistorical arguments to overturn the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). This illegitimate Supreme Court has thwarted the will of the people and bypassed the 14th Amendment so the state can force our reproductive labor to create a readily exploitable “domestic supply of infants” for the capitalist class.

Peninsula Democratic Socialists of America (PDSA) vehemently rejects the premise that the people exist to serve the elite-captured economy, or that gender oppression is in any way compatible with democracy. We stand in solidarity with the people in other states who have lost, or may soon lose, non-negotiable human rights. The Dobbs decision is nothing short of an act of class warfare that will disproportionately harm our most vulnerable communities, no matter where they live.

• We demand that Congress end the filibuster in order to pass legislation protecting the right to abortion and reproductive freedom.
• We demand that the California legislature make use of its Democratic supermajority to (1) make the right to abortion explicit, (2) protect any person seeking reproductive healthcare from intimidation, interference, or prosecution, and (3) pass CalCare (AB 1400) to guarantee free healthcare to all.
• We encourage our chapter members and potential members to support reproductive justice by donating to Oakland’s Access Reproductive Justice and by joining our Healthcare Working Group, which next meets on Wednesday, July 20 at 6 p.m.
• We invite our neighbors in San Mateo County to join DSA and build a mass political movement to fight for abortion rights and for democracy.

In the face of barbarism, we continue to fight for equality through socialism, including universal healthcare with free abortion on demand and without apology. They may have the courts, but we have the people. Solidarity forever.

We’re always looking for ways to increase engagement from our membership. Let us know what you’d like to see us do more of by sending us an email.

Socialist Feminism cannot ignore the brutal reality of international capitalism.

A robust critique of capitalism is the only way to achieve a global understanding of women’s oppression.

Patriarchy predates capitalism, and the oppression of women transcends class. From unpaid domestic labor to cultural expressions of misogyny, socialism must confront the specific realities of women’s lives.

The path to achieving true equality requires a focused critique of the cultural force of patriarchy.

This Pride Month, as queer people face vicious attacks from oppressors both within and outside the state, Northeast TN DSA affirms its profound commitment to fighting for the freedom of all people to determine all aspects of their lives to the greatest extent possible.

Patriarchy and heteronormativity are constituent elements of the capitalist disorder. As working people face dire crises in food and housing, those in power spread anti-queer hatred to divide the working class and divert attention from the bankruptcy of capitalism. They blame queer people for our problems in order to set us against each other and obscure the fact that we are all exploited. They push anti-trans legislation that deprives trans people of equal access to resources and thereby relegates them to a permanent, exploitable underclass. By focusing hatred on the most vulnerable among us, the ruling class secures its domination over everyone and everything.  

This month and always, NTDSA stands with queer people the world over. To achieve queer liberation, oppressed and exploited people must organize themselves and show unflinching solidarity in the face of attempts to divide and intimidate. We oppose what is now the most expansive slate of anti-trans legislation in Tennessee history as it comes before the state legislature, and we will fight for queer people’s equality of rights, ability to make themselves materially secure, and freedom to live their lives as they desire both in private and in public. Happy Pride! See you at TriPride in August!

In Solidarity,
Northeast TN DSA

This Friday, the Supreme Court released their ruling on the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As feared, an unelected and illegitimate Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision that protected the right to abortion as an extension of the right to privacy. This undemocratic attack on reproductive freedom by six unelected judges cannot stand. Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America calls on all chapter members and supporters to mobilize immediately and join the fight to defeat this blatant act of class warfare. Commit to this fight here and join us tonight, 6/24 at 6:30 pm for an emergency rally at San Jose City Hall or tomorrow, 6/25 at 10:00 am also at San Jose City Hall. 

We urge all members to support ongoing reproductive justice work. Abortion remains legal in California, but state legislatures from Texas to Missouri have already made abortion illegal and seek to impose criminal penalties on doctors and patients who seek abortions. We must commit to building solidarity with those living in states that have just banned abortion while also working to strengthen the right to abortion at home. Free abortion on demand and without apology.

We demand that Congress pass federal legislation to protect abortion as a human right and repeal the filibuster if needed to do so. We call on the California Legislature to enshrine the right to abortion in our state constitution, pass CalCare to ensure every Californian has free access to reproductive healthcare, and enact abortion sanctuary laws to protect from retaliation those who seek to have an abortion in our state. 

Together, we will join a nationwide movement committed to restoring and expanding the right to abortion for all time.
Our enemies may have the courts; we have the people.

The post Silicon Valley DSA Statement Regarding SCOTUS Overturning Roe v. Wade appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

Across the nation and here in Appalachia today, the freedom to access abortion care has been severely restricted, and for people in many states made entirely illegal, by the U.S. Supreme Court. This dismantling of fundamental rights to privacy and bodily autonomy will have drastic effects on the working class in our country, as well as opening the doors to overturning, at a minimum, the Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell decisions.

In 2019, Tennessee lawmakers passed House Bill 1029, which will put a near total ban of abortion into place 30 days after today’s Supreme Court opinion. This will make it a felony for doctors to perform abortions in the state, facing 3-15 years in prison.

While an injunction on this law from US District Judge William Campbell  is currently being pursued in the courts, we need to take action.

A person who receives an abortion cannot be charged with a crime as the current law is written, and you will not face charges for helping get someone to a neighboring state such as North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Maryland or the District of Columbia.

Here are actions you can take today:

1. Support moving the Bristol, TN, clinic across the state line to Bristol, VA, and protect access to abortion in our area: https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-abortion-safe-and-legal-in-bristol

2. Donate to Mountain Access Brigade, a volunteer-run abortion dula collective and fund that services East Tennessee: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mountainaccessbrigade

3. Sign up to learn how to protect abortion access through Abortion Access Front—they are doing a training on July 17: https://www.aafront.org/operation-save-abortion

4. Support each other and seek out emotional support from others as you need it. This is a devastating outcome, but we can rise against it. As labor journalist Kim Kelly wrote on Twitter, today, “If we can’t be people, we can at least be a problem.”

Finally, we will leave you with a quote from the statement on this from our national body:

“The leadership of the Democratic Party have proven time and time again that they cannot be depended upon to save us. Despite many opportunities to codify Roe v. Wade into law, the Democrats in Washington failed to act. Nor can we rely on our judicial system to guarantee us civil rights. Now more than ever, we need to build a vibrant, militant, majoritarian socialist movement to defeat Republican minority rule, win legislative power, and build a better world that guarantees healthcare as a human right, including the right to free abortions on demand without apology.”

Join the fight with the Democratic Socialists of America — visit https://protectabortion.org/

In Solidarity,
Northeast TN DSA

References:

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1029&GA=111https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/federal-judge-blocks-sweeping-anti-abortion-law-in-tennessee/2020/07/24/d153b384-cdfc-11ea-99b0-8426e26d203b_story.html (edited)

The Senate Must Take Action

The Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America condemns the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. We strongly believe that all people have the right to reproductive freedom and to practice bodily autonomy. This ruling is an extreme overstep by an authoritarian Supreme Court and is an attempt to reassert patriarchal social norms and thwart women’s liberation. 

We will not let this move go unchallenged. We call on Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper to end the filibuster, codify the right to an abortion, bring forward and vote to pass legislation that would end lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court, to add additional seats to the Supreme Court to end partisan supermajorities that threaten our democracy, and to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees peoples’ right to reproductive freedom. Safe abortion access is a human right and we call on all Colorado and Colorado Springs legislators to declare it so.

In the face of rising authoritarianism, we must champion the principles of democracy and organize to defend our democratic and human rights. The Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America is committed to pushing back against the threat of fascist and patriarchal rule in these critical times for democracy.