This week’s newsletter is a little different. In light of the horrific murder of a 19-year-old trans woman Sunday evening at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, I wanted to share a personal reflection.
Like so many of you, I am in shock and in grief about the murder of a young trans woman, 19 years old, at UW Seattle’s campus Sunday night. While we don’t know her name, or the motive yet, what we do know is that there is a family–chosen or not–friends, neighbors, and communities, who are now grappling with the vacuum where her energy once was. This was a person starting out her life, with all of the dreams, anxieties, and experiences she will no longer have. I was her, a 19-year-old trans woman starting my life at UW in 2020; maybe you were, too.
I’ve been sitting with this: amidst the spiral of speculation, I want us to reflect on how we have all allowed ourselves to arrive at this time where the safety of our community is so fragile, that we’ve all had the same collective conclusion upon reading the headlines. Now and moving forward, I hope we will hold with us that hatred is a debt, and sometimes, it gets paid with a person’s life.
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As we are all holding that today, here are this week’s campaign updates.
Campaign Updates:
–RSVP for our LAUNCH EVENT! We’re excited to share that No Hate in WA State’s general election kickoff is Wednesday, June 17th at 5:15p at Neumos in Capitol Hill, with special guests Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, Councilmember Dionne Foster, STANCE Choir and more to be announced. RSVP and join us here!
-Coalition meetings are weekly starting NOW! Registration is now required to receive a meeting invitation. Please register so they’re on your calendar and feel free to share with any other supporters who may want to join.
–We have nearly 170+ endorsing organizations and 70+ elected officials who’ve endorsed!📈🌟 Thank you for endorsing and spreading the word to make this growing coalition possible. A few of our recent endorsers from the last week include: State Representative My-Linh Thai, Seattle School Board President Gina Topp, and State Senator Claire Wilson, along with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Legal Voice, and ROOTS Young Adult Shelter.
-Pride Month is around the corner!🌈 NHWS wants to have a presence at as many events as possible through WA. If you and your organization will be at an upcoming Pride event this season, please let us know through this survey.
–Campaign social media is live! Please follow our official accounts on Instagram (@nohateinwastate), Threads (@nohateinwastate), Bluesky (@nohateinwastate.bsky.social), and Facebook (No Hate in WA State) then like our posts, comment and share! You can (and should!) do this from your personal and organizational accounts. This organic social media reach will go a long way in increasing our campaign’s visibility and awareness of the initiatives.
Coming Up:
-No Hate is hosting fundraisers all across the state, and we’d love to see you there! RSVP using the following links: [May 28th] Olympia, [May 30th] Seattle, [June 18th] Bellingham, [June 30th] Port Townsend, and [July 11th] Olympia.
-Merch is coming! NHWS will be launching a merch store on our website next week. Items will include apparel, stickers, yard signs, and more. Stay tuned for more details.
Opposition Updates:
-Conservative mega donor Brian Heywood and his PAC, Let’s Go Washington, are under investigation for violating campaign finance laws. Read more in The Seattle Times story.
-Heywood, Republican Representative Jim Walsh, and Brandi Kruse will all be appearing alongside Katy Faust at the Snohomish County Republicans fundraiser this weekend. Katy Faust is one of the leading activists working to undo marriage equality. This is the kind of hate and backwards thinking that we’re up against. If you’re in the Snohomish area, please consider joining us to stand against hate.
Other Calls to Action:
-Check out and take advantage of our multiple fundraising toolkits! Defeating these initiatives against a mega millionaire-backed campaign won’t be easy and requires resources. You can help us overcome our biggest challenge by cohosting a fundraiser and using both our houseparty toolkit and digital fundraising toolkit to help you get started. Please email Libby (libby@nohateinwastate.org) and Michaela (michaela@alkiconsulting.com) to talk next steps on fundraising.
–Write a letter to the editor! Talking points, templates, and publications that accept LTEs are all conveniently located on our website page. More letters to the editor from our supporters help balance out the media coverage that has disproportionately covered our opposition’s talking points. Here’s a great example from the Cascadia Daily News!
In solidarity,
Milena Sherman (she/her), Organizing Manager
No Hate in WA State
NO HATE in WA State is a campaign of Washington parents, medical professionals, teachers, students, and community members standing against ballot measures IL26-001 and IL26-638 that would endanger Washington students and hurt our schools.
Reject the hate, bullying, and harassment of our students. Join us today.
NO HATE in WA State
PO Box 21961
Seattle, WA 98111
United States