Asheville DSA and Asheville PSL Rally at Pack Square for Transgender Rights
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2021 (Asheville, NC) — Members of the Asheville Democratic Socialists of America and the Asheville Party for Socialism & Liberation are rallying in support of transgender rights at 1pm in Pack Square.
The rally to highlight trans voices is in response to multiple Republican-introduced bills in the North Carolina legislature. These bills would deny trans youth access to sports, and empower hospitals and clinics to discriminate against transgender residents.
“The North Carolina General Assembly — egged on by the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom and the bigots of the reactionary Christian Right — has joined in a tidal wave of proposed legislation introduced across the United States with the aim of assaulting the rights, dignity, and existence of transgender and LGBTQ people in general, and trans youth in particular,” said Claire Clark, whose pronouns are she/her, and is an Asheville PSL activist.
She stated, “we are gathered today as a community of transgender people, comrades, and allies to uplift the voices, anger, sorrows, and fears of trans people; to begin the conversations that will lead to the building of grassroots struggle for the rights of trans and LGBTQ people in Western North Carolina; and to STAND UP and FIGHT BACK against bigotry and oppression!”
Although Raleigh Republicans have signaled that they will not move ahead with the most egregious of the anti-trans bills they’ve introduced this year, two such bills remain. HB 358 will deny transgender youth the right to participate in public sports programs, and SB 515 sides with corporations in the healthcare industry that would deny services to transgender people.
“As socialists, we stand with our trans friends, family, and neighbors because we believe everyone has the right to equal access to public amenities, goods, and services, and we believe everyone has a right to health care — it’s just the right thing to do,” said Andrew Paul, whose pronouns are he/him and is Asheville DSA co-chair. “And as socialists, we also know that moral panics such as these are often cynical attempts to turn the multiracial working class against itself, to divide and conquer in order to maintain the status quo. We all have a stake in this,” he said.
Asheville DSA is the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest left organization in the United States, with more than 95,000 dues-paying members. Asheville DSA seeks to empower working people and marginalized groups and build a more equitable society for all of us.
The Party for Socialism & Liberation is a working-class party of leaders and activists from many different struggles, founded to promote the movement for revolutionary change. PSL stands for solidarity, friendship and cooperation between all peoples.
