What we learned,

By Sara Burlingame

Where We’re Going

“Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon.” - E.M. Forster

Friends:

We did a whole hell of a lot of connecting this legislative session. Together we wrote hundreds of emails, raised thousands of dollars and showed up by the dozens to testify, demonstrate and MAKE OUR VOICE HEARD at the Capitol. The good news is your voices were loud and clear and we became one of the only conservative states in America to defeat every bill that sought to limit gender affirming care for minors (SF 111 and 144). The great news is that we defeated SF 117, the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as well as HB 262 and and 187 that sought to limit freedom of expression in the classroom and libraries. We lost the battle for reproductive rights on SF 109 and HB 152 and became the first state in America to make abortion pills illegal. Abortion pills have been proven safe and effective and a particular boon to rural states like Wyoming that lack metropolitan healthcare services.

There were so many times I was walking the halls of the capitol this session, racing from one committee to another that I found myself asking, “How did we get here? This doesn’t feel like…us.” Having served in the Wyoming legislature and having lived in the West my whole life, I feel like I carry a strong pulse of what “we” feel like. Not always in step with the rest of the world, but with a clear thirst for individual liberty and independence. We had defeated every single bad bill, every bill that sought to limit the civil liberty of LGBTQ people for the last 45 years. That record ended this year. What went wrong?

The Freedom Caucus. If you aren’t familiar with them, it is a group of lawmakers who vote en bloc to expand government oversight of our personal lives, from abortion, to education, to how we express our gender or who we love. In the past, Wyoming has defeated these attempts to curtail our liberty by relying on a small-government mindset that respects personal liberty whether they agree with it or not. Most of us make our home here because in one way or another, that describes us too. Real liberty, real freedom.

Have you thought about running for the school board or the legislature? Are you looking for a way to get involved? We’d love to help you do that.

What happens when that freedom gets ripped away? What happens to the voices moving into the state, and the homegrown ones who always rankled when freedom meant letting your neighbors live and let live? Some of us move. I’ve seen the slow trickle of LGBTQ and ally friends grow into a steady pour as they head for states that don’t need to be convinced of equal human rights. Former House Minority Floor Leader Cathy Connolly had other reasons, like a son she doesn’t see enough of, but losing her to New York leaves a vacuum in our state. I can’t say I blame her at all. But golly do I miss her.

We’ve got other great folks in the legislature, standing up for us. Rep. Karlee Provenza did the heavy lifting on SF 133, the anti-trans sports bill. Over and over she made the case that trans kids in Wyoming are our kids, and we owe them something. Rep. Obermueller surprised us with a moving testimony on that same bill, giving credit to the brave students who spoke so effectively and claimed their rights as children of Wyoming.

Have you thought about running for the school board or the legislature? Are you looking for a way to get involved? We’d love to help you do that. Our friends at Equality State Policy Center have a fantastic training if you want more specific information. Give us a holler and we’ll connect you.

Connect, connect, connect. Forster was right. We are at our best when we reach across the prairie, stretch over the Gros Ventre, slide into Campbell Co. organizer’s DMs, sidle up next to the Goshen County neighbor, mosey over to the Natrona partner…just connect. Wyoming is worth fighting for. If we let these small minds define freedom, they’ll legislate us out of existence. Our wombs, our closets, our medicine, our love will be locked up in their big-G Government cages.

Wouldn't that be a shame.

God bless Wyoming. Let’s keep her free.

Donate. Get involved. Connect with us today.

Love,

Sara

P.S. Stay tuned for news of the lawsuit in response to SF 133. We should know more next month. If you’re subscribed to the United Voice, you’ll be the first to know. Subscribe here:

P.P.S. Not a monthly donor to Wyoming Equality yet? Today is a good day to fix that. We’d love to have you fighting with us.