Each June we celebrate the achievements and commemorate the struggles of our LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers. Before the historic Stonewall riots in 1969 New York City, frustration at inequality and police harassment and brutality surfaced elsewhere in the U.S: a clash of transgender clients and the LAPD at Cooper’s Donuts in 1959; the Compton Cafeteria riot in August, 1966, in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District; the organized protest at the Black Cat Bar in Los Angeles, February 11, 1967.

Since those tumultuous days, huge gains in LGBTQ+ rights have been demanded and enacted into law, most recently with the Respect for Marriage Act of 2022 confirming the right to same-sex marriage set forth in the 2015 Supreme Court decision on Oberfell v. Hodges.

Yet each step toward equality is fraught, and Republican strategists seeking wedge issues have seized on transgender rights and healthcare as yet another way to divide Americans. Anti-trans legislation has been proposed in 45 states in 2023. The good news is that 15 states have prevented those bills from advancing. Eighteen states have new anti-trans legislation on the books; bills are pending in 12 more states.

PDA stands for Equality. Period. We stand for Justice. Period. We won’t slow down; we won’t stop; we’ll never give up.

Join PDA’s growing ranks of monthly sustainers today, to ensure that we can continue and expand our efforts to fight for racial and gender equity, improve social safety nets, demand responsible energy production and usage, build a national single-payer healthcare system, and promote peace and adherence to established international law.