The Resistance Brief: This week in the fight for justice

Faith, justice, and persistence

Blog by Ricardo Martinez (he/him), Executive Director

The Resistance Brief: Faith, Justice, and Persistence  

We are living through a time of escalating discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and violence. Our inability to provide immediate relief to so much suffering keeps us up at night. I know it weighs heavy on my spirit.  

For me, those feelings are wrapped up in my Catholic upbringing. My relationship status with my faith remains “it’s complicated,” but there is an inextricable connection that binds my advocacy to the lessons I learned attending church as a child alongside my mother and grandmother. They taught me my highest purpose is to do the greatest good for people without compromising myself or my values.

Recently, I’ve prayed for collective decency, kindness, and mercy. And for the safety and well-being of all people. While systems of oppression are not new, and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality is ongoing, the current callous attacks on our community and disregard for our humanity (sometimes in the name of faith) feel unholy.  

One of my favorite passages has always been, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did it for me.” I always loved that lesson, which uplifts the innate dignity we all possess. It is a lesson that calls us to reflect on how we treat those with the least power: marginalized communities, people experiencing homelessness, and people who are sick or imprisoned. How we treat “the least of these” defines who we are and is a measure of the strength of our democracy. 

The current landscape and its many horrors are aimed at creating insufferable conditions and coercing us to abandon those within our community who need us the most.  

But I’m reminded of another lesson I learned in the church pew as a child: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” The test we face is our ability to show up for each other. 

Whether it’s immigrants being detained, deported, and disappeared with no due process, unaccompanied LGBTQ+ minors surrendering themselves at the border, trans women being brutalized by police, cutting off funding for humanitarian aid and HIV prevention, or transgender inmates experiencing unspeakable abuse in prisons – the realities of the toll this moment is having may consume and overwhelm us.  

But it’s important to understand that we feel this way by design. The current federal administration is conducting a stress test on just how much indignation towards marginalized communities we will tolerate. But one thing I know about the queer community is that we are relentless in our pursuit of justice and equality. Regardless of how tired we are, of how scared we may be, we show up for those in need. 

I’m really proud of the path GLAD Law has taken to provide relief and support to those who need us the most at this time. 

Shortly after the inauguration, GLAD Law took immediate action challenging Trump’s Day One anti-transgender executive order. As a result of that order, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) began placing transgender women in solitary confinement, at imminent risk of being moved to men’s facilities and losing their necessary medical care. 

Transgender women face incredibly high rates of harassment and assault, including sexual assault, when housed with men, and withdrawal of medical care causes devastating health impacts. GLAD Law acted quickly, filing three cases, Moe v. Trump, Doe v. Bondi, and Jones v. Bondi, securing rulings for our clients to remain in women’s facilities and ensuring their continued medical care. We’ve continued to add plaintiffs to our cases as we hear from more transgender women at risk, and this week, the federal judge granted an order directing BOP to return two women from men’s facilities where they’d been transferred. 

Many stories underscoring the direct harm of this administration’s actions have come to our attention through GLAD Law Answers, our free, confidential legal infoline that provides people  with information, referrals, and, if possible, pro bono legal assistance. Over the last three months, our GLAD Law Answers line has received 827 new intakes, compared to 322 intakes by this time last year. The requests for support include questions from incarcerated individuals, people experiencing challenges accessing medical care, servicemembers impacted by the trans military ban, and people experiencing employment discrimination, bullying at school, harassment, and violence. 

I know it feels like fights that were settled and secure are being fought again. It’s not fair that our community is in the crosshairs once more and being scapegoated for political gains. And while we can and should be frustrated that we’re fighting the same, tired playbook, that also means GLAD Law has the blueprint to fight back. Our cases against BOP show how the law and the courts can play their rightful role in stopping unthinkable harm. The Reagan-appointed federal judge saw how Trump’s BOP policy violates the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act and the 8th Amendment, acted quickly, and to date, BOP has complied with those orders. 

That blueprint to get us out of this moment includes showing up for community – all of it. And when I need some reassurance, I call in my mom’s prayer circle, who have been praying every Tuesday and Thursday for a just and merciful outcome. 

What to do, what else to know: 

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