By Carolyn Wysinger–
It’s May 2022 and there is a Black Lesbian who is also a famous basketball player named Brittney Griner who is still being detained in Russia. When will the federal government and President Biden make her release a priority?
By now we have all read the “leaked” draft opinion from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that would effectively abolish Roe v. Wade. We are now days past the nationwide “Bans Off Our Bodies” movement that saw thousands of women and allies organized by local Women’s March chapters to march for reproductive rights.
The day after “The Leak,” I had the opportunity to chat with ABC7 News about the reverberating effects of a major move like reversing Roe v. Wade. To me it is very simple. During Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS hearing, he was asked about his feelings on a historic decision like Roe. His response was that he believes Roe to be “settled law.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett went so far as to state that they weren’t ruling on “the Law of Amy” and that laws couldn’t be undone simply by personal beliefs.
However, given that this “draft” decision indicates they both voted in favor of a Roe reversal, the court has clearly become a partisan wasteland bent on reversing a right that women clawed and fought over for decades. So, what was the point of spending a whole day grilling Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson about being an “activist Judge”? The high court isn’t headed there. It has arrived there. It arrived there the exact moment that Mitch McConnell blocked Merrick Garland’s appointment.
And if it can happen to Roe, it can happen to Obergefell v. Hodges (marriage equality), Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (racial segregation in schools), and every other settled landmark case that has provided basic human rights to marginalized people over the last 70 years. I’m no legal expert and am only a baby politico. So, I don’t have a lot of flowery language to tell you how dangerous this is.
LGBTQ folks, y’all, we in trouble. That’s it. That’s the column. These are the reasons why you don’t sit back on your couch and relax when you get one little piece of rights or legislation. This is why you can’t sit back and get comfortable because a piece of law “doesn’t affect you.” You can’t wait until someone you love is in danger. If you are one of those people who was running around quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on MLK day, then here is another for you: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
So, you need to fight! Fight like your rights are on the line too. Because, believe me, they are!
Carolyn Wysinger is an LGBTQ author, activist, and President of the SF Pride Board of Directors. She has written for Autostraddle, Everyday Feminism, and Black Girl Dangerous. She can be found starting trouble on Instagram & Twitter @CdubbTheHost
Published on May 19, 2022
Recent Comments