A formal statement will be coming from the National Lavender Green Caucus and National Green Party shortly on the horrific mass murder which took place in Colorado Springs.  

My name is Margaret Elisabeth, I’m a Co-Chair of the National Lavender Green Caucus and a Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Green Party of the United States.  I’m a nonbinary trans femme and, on behalf of the National Lavender Green Caucus, I want to speak to all of you reading this very personally.

I’m angry and heartbroken at the news we received overnight about the terrorist attack on Club Q, in Colorado Springs, CO. in which at least 5 people were killed and 25 injured.  I’m heartbroken for the victims and their families, for the patrons and for the staff.  I’m grateful that it wasn’t worse, it certainly could have been if not for the actions of two heroic patrons.

I’m furious that Anderson Lee Aldrich had previously been arrested for a bomb threat in June 2021, only to be released and able to purchase a firearm.  How can you be arrested for a bomb threat and still be permitted to purchase firearms?  I want to shout “This has to stop!” yet it doesn’t.  What good are gun-control laws if they are not enforced?

Every year we gather on this day to mourn our dead.  Is it a “good” year that only 33 trans people that we know of were killed in the United States for being trans? Overwhelmingly the trans people who are murdered are Black and Brown trans women and we engage in a morbid and macabre situation every year; during the same week we start with a celebration of trans people existing, we end with a public mourning of our dead.

Club Q is a gay and lesbian night club that features drag shows on Saturdays, and Club Q’s Facebook page said the planned entertainment included a “punk and alternative show” preceding a birthday dance party, with a Sunday “all ages brunch.” The attendees were trying to enjoy a social night out with friends, in a safe place to express themselves, like every other person in the country. A night of music, laughter and fun.  Instead they received a lifetime of pain and trauma, if they were fortunate enough to live.

I have no words to express the depth of my anger, hurt and sadness tonight.

In solidarity and mourning,

Margaret Elisabeth
Co-Chair, National Lavender Green Caucus

The Green Party of Washington State has joined a coalition of organizations calling on President Biden to act on his pledge to end the federal and military death penalty.

We stand in solidarity with all concerned citizens and call on President Biden to:

• Commute the sentences of those currently on federal and military death rows;
• Order a halt to new death sentences in federal prosecutions;
• Order the Federal Bureau of Prisons to demolish the federal execution chamber and the building in which it is housed at the Federal Correctional Institution at Terre Haute;
  • Consider replacing it with green space for use by inmates and prison staff;
• Pledge to support and sign H.R. 262/S.B. 582, the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, which abolishes federal and military death penalty laws, removes the possibility of death sentences, and mandates fair re-sentencing of those currently on federal and military death rows.

We encourage individual supporters to write to their members of congress, sign the petition to President Biden, and find additional resources for action at http://deathpenaltyaction.org/federal-death-penalty

This will be an ongoing effort until President Biden fulfills his campaign promise to abolish the federal death penalty. The ask may be modified at times as appropriate. The list of endorsing organizations will be updated regularly. The first presentation of this list will occur in mid-November, 2022. All of the organizations signed on by November 11, 2022 will be included in the congressional “dear colleague” letter inviting Members of Congress to sign on, and in press materials disseminated at that time. This list will continue to grow and be used by the members of congress and this ongoing campaign, as needed.

On this day, 53 years ago in the early morning, “Public Morals Squad” officers waited outside a small bar in the New York City neighborhood of Greenwich Village. The roughly 200 patrons inside were doing what most folks do at bars, drinking, dancing, and trying to have a good time. It wasn’t a nice bar. It didn’t have running water behind the bar, it was owned by the mafia, and the patrons were all criminalized by the society at the time. It was, however, a place where these folks could be themselves, if only for a few hours.

 What followed is, as they say, history. The subsequent police raid and eventual violent uprising would go on to be memorialized to this day as one of the sparks that ignited the modern queer rights movement. For years now, we’ve used this day to look back and comment on how far we’ve come, but this year it feels like we’ve never been so close to returning to that time as a society.

A society that treats drag performers as dangers to children and the public. A society that treats queer people as existential threats to society and tries to legislate away our rights to healthcare. A society that looks once again to criminalizing our love, our bodies, and our existence.

Having pride in this climate is hard. It’s easy to feel demoralized when everything we’ve fought for over decades seems so fragile – so close to disappearing. It’s times like these we need to remember Stormé DeLarverie, standing handcuffed in police custody outside the Stonewall Inn in the early morning all those years ago.

“Why don’t you guys do something?” she shouted at the bystanders.

She was under attack, and together with her queer community they demanded their rights and stood up to a society that saw them as less than, deviant, and immoral. For days they rioted in the streets throwing bottles and dropping bricks through windshields of police cars. They marched in the streets. They confronted oppression where it lived and made themselves unavoidable.

It’s that activism that lives at the core of who we are as Greens. When the climate is threatened and the duopoly is standing by impotent, we’re shouting “Why don’t you guys do something!?” When our black and brown siblings are victimized by police violence, we are marching in the streets shouting, “Why don’t you guys do something!?” When queer rights are threatened we confront those enabling it and set forth our vision for a more just society.

The Green Party of the United States has centered LGBTQIA+ rights since its inception. It has stood arm in arm with the oppressed across this country and demanded justice. On this anniversary, we ask you to continue that fight with us in any way you can, whether that is with your activism, your time, or your generous donation.

Our mission has never been more important, and your support has never been so needed.

In Solidarity,
Daniel Bumbarger & Margaret Elisabeth
National Lavender Green Caucus Co-Chairs

Coordinating Council, Green Party of Washington State

We could really use your help. If you are able, I hope you will consider making a mid-year donation to the Green Party of Washington. For the past six months, I have been working hard, along with our GPWA Coordinating Council, to strengthen our local Chapters and increase our membership across the state.

One of our biggest expenses each summer is for our Website and our Database. We use a content management and customer relationship management (CRM) software called NationBuilder. Your donation will help us make our annual payment to them in mid-July. Any amount is appreciated.

As Greens, we are actively marginalized and scapegoated by people that see our existence as a threat. Your donation today will help us keep moving forward, looking beyond our current political paradigms.

I’m so thankful to be in a party that has vision! Thanks for being on this journey with us and thank you for your donation!

Peace, 
Starlene Rankin, Organizer GPWA

PS: Become a GPWA member, check your membership status, or renew your membership today!

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The Green Party of Washington State is looking for progressives who share our values to run for elected office. All across the country hundreds of Green Party candidates will be challenging the two corporate parties, so this is a great time to learn the ins and outs of running for office and a great opportunity to listen to the experiences of Greens who have run and won their seats.

Our guest speaker on March 20, 2022, was former Santa Monica, California City Council Member and Mayor Mike Feinstein (see video link below).

Mike spoke on his experiences of running for office, and what it’s like to be a Green in elected office. This was a great chance for people who are interested in running or participating in electoral campaigns to get questions answered by a Green who has done it.

We’re looking for people who are under-represented in elected office: women, African-Americans, Indigenous People, Asian Americans, Hispanic and Latinx Americans, LGBTQIA+, People with Disabilities, and Young People. The Green Party of Washington is dedicated to the 4 Pillars and 10 Key Values of the Green Party and we’re dedicated to Social Justice and Equity.

In 2022, seats in the US Senate, US House of Representatives, Washington State Senate and House, and other local offices are up for election. To be competitive for these seats, candidates need to begin their campaigns early and have a campaign staff in place. We are recruiting candidates as Greens or Independents who can file to run by the May 20, 2022 filing deadline.

The Green Party of Washington approaches national and state elections with the same overall strategy of supporting Green candidates and Independents who share our values so we can shift the balance of power away from the parties of war to the party of peace. This is a great time for a smart, energetic anti-war candidate to challenge and win election in Washington State!

If you or someone you know is interested in running for office or working on a progressive Green campaign, please share the video below with them. We look forward to organizing with you!

In this video, Michael Feinstein speaks on his experiences of running for office and what it’s like to be a Green in elected office. He is a former Santa Monica, California, City Council Member and the former Mayor of Santa Monica.

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