In honor of Pride month and the uprising taking hold across the country, we want to direct your attention to the intersection of some crucial history and ongoing activism.

At the core of reproductive justice is the right to self-determination and bodily autonomy, which includes the rights of transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people to live freely and safely in our communities. The compounding factors of anti-Black racism and transphobia leave Black trans people particularly vulnerable to mistreatment and violence.

Put simply, the world was better with Tony McDade, Nina Pop, Riah Milton, Dominique ‘Rem’mie’ Fells, Layleen Polanco Xtravangza, Brandi Seals, and Muhlaysia Booker in it. Their deaths cannot and should not go unremarked in what we hope is a national shift toward abolition.

You’re committed to funding abortion and ending discrimination against all people. So are we, which is why we’re shifting away from exclusive language like “women’s rights.” We know that cisgender people aren’t the only ones who need an abortion. As We Testify storyteller Cazembe Jackson puts it in his abortion story:

“I wish that folks understood that men have abortions too. That gender is separate from the ability to reproduce children. That every person who has the ability to create children is capable of determining when if ever is the right time to do it.”

One very small action, if you haven’t yet done so, is to shift your own language toward inclusivity as you talk about reproductive rights. For example, people seeking abortion care, people who have abortions, people who can become pregnant, etc.

You might also read up on the particularly resonant history of Stonewall, a riot against police brutality with Black trans women at the front.

Or, donate to one of these semi-local organizations:

• Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts, which offers assistance to low-income and homeless transgender people living in Massachusetts.
• Boston Black and Pink, a group at the intersection of prison abolition and radical queer politics.
• The LGBT Asylum Task Force of Worcester’s Hadwen Ministries, which supports LGBTQI asylum-seekers. 
• Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, an anti-discrimination advocacy, education, and community group. 

And, sign petitions seeking justice for Dominique ‘Rem’mie’ Fells, Remi Milton, or Toni McDade.

You can also consider attending one of the many #BlackTransLivesMatter or #BlackLivesMatter protests, if that would be safe for you.