Demolish the Closet Recap
On Easter Sunday, we helped organize and sponsor an event called Demolish the Closet in which we showed up and showed out in support of our transgender friends and family. As many know, we have had a rising tide of anti-trans legislation sweeping across the nation riding on a wave of misinformation and outright falsehoods. This surge in anti-trans laws has also sparked a surge in violence against the trans community.
Indiana has been no exception to such laws with several being brought up for debate before swiftly passing through the Republican supermajority in our legislative body. The authors of these bills have been but a small handful of legislators, but their political colleagues have been overwhelmingly supportive of their aims. And while the ACLU has been working hard to organize and rally people to the statehouse in protest of these widely unpopular laws, such protests take place inside the “free speech zones” within the statehouse; zones behind sound-proof glass where legislators don’t even have to turn to look at the throngs of people opposed to them as police stand guard.
Because it is so easy to ignore protestors in the statehouse, we decided to try another approach.
About two dozen of us rallied at Summerfield Park where coach Jared introduced the day’s action, followed by an incredible, fiery speech by Cambria of Indy PSL that got everyone ready to act. Afterward, we began our march to the home of Michelle Davis, an Indiana state representative, whereupon four to six police cars congregated in order to intimidate us.
Davis has authored or co-authored at least three anti-trans bills this legislative session. She has adamantly ignored all medical experts who have testified against her dangerous bills and has also continually ignored the majority of Indiana residents opposed to her forthcoming laws. What’s a little harder to ignore is people showing up on your doorstep.
We arrived at her home and heard another speech from local poet and activist Autumn. Afterward, we read a list of demands and hung a trans pride flag across the street from Davis’s home so that she could see it every time she looked out of her window. Upon the hanging of the flag, we marched back to the park and dispersed.
It may not have been a big, eventful moment with lots of media attention (though we made it on the Fox 59 morning show), but we made a statement. We showed our legislators that we aren’t blind to what they’re doing. We aren’t going to listlessly sit back and accept the violence they bestow upon us via the system. We will always stand for those who are vulnerable.
We are thankful to everyone who came out to join us and show their solidarity with our trans friends, family, and loved ones. We are grateful for those who donated time, energy, skills, or funds to assist with the organizing of this event. We could not do any of the good things we do without the support of our communities. And we aren’t going anywhere.