Actions of a Diverse America: April 23rd, 2025
By Someone Who's Sick of This Shit - April 23, 2025
The country's spiraling into a goddamn dumpster fire, and Donaldo Shitpitter's administration is dousing it with gasoline. You saw the headlines - they're gutting Voice of America, dragging women from town halls, funding transphobic legislation, and cutting suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth. Instead of just doom-scrolling through this nightmare, it's time to get off your ass and do something. Here's your visceral guide to fighting back at the local level where these fascist fucks are most vulnerable.
Press Freedom: How to Protect It
When Donny McFartsalot tries to dismantle independent media like Voice of America, here's how to fight:
Support Independent Local Journalism With Your Wallet - Your local independent papers and radio stations are the canaries in the coal mine. Subscribe to them, donate, or buy their merch. Without your money, they're fucked.
Call Your Representatives Weekly - Not monthly, not when you feel like it. WEEKLY. Save their numbers in your phone and make it a Monday ritual. Demand they publicly denounce attacks on press freedom and fund independent journalism. Be specific: "I want Representative Smith to publicly condemn the dismantling of Voice of America and vote to restore full funding." Their staff keeps tallies of these calls.
Create Media Accountability Groups - Form a local watchdog group that monitors both government censorship AND corporate media compliance. Meet monthly, document instances of censorship or propaganda, and flood local officials with evidence. Record every town hall, every public meeting, and publicly shame officials who restrict press access.
Amplify Silenced Voices - When journalists are pushed aside, become the media yourself. Use encrypted platforms to share first-hand accounts from silenced journalists. Create local screening events of international news broadcasts. The more they try to silence voices, the louder we need to be.
Town Halls: What to Do
After seeing GOP thugs physically remove Teresa Borrenpohl from that Idaho town hall, here's how you prevent this authoritarian horseshit in your community:
Never Go Alone - Organize groups of 5-10 constituents to attend every town hall together. Coordinate beforehand. Sit separately. Record everything from multiple angles. Agree on a signal if someone's being threatened.
Know Your Rights Cold - Print actual legal cards with your rights at public meetings. When some security goon approaches, read them their legal obligations verbatim. Make them nervous. Document every violation. In most states, publicly announced town halls are protected free speech forums.
Pre-file FOIAs for Security Contracts - Before attending any Republican town hall, file Freedom of Information Act requests for all security contracts. Publish the names of firms being used and their licensing status. Make it public knowledge who's being hired to police political speech.
Create Legal Defense Funds - Pool money with neighbors to create rapid response legal funds. When the first person gets harassed, you need lawyers there within hours, not days. Connect with organizations like the ACLU and National Lawyers Guild beforehand.
Force Public Accountability - File ethics complaints against every official who allows constituents to be removed from public forums. File complaints with security licensing boards. File police reports for assault. Don't let a single incident slide without massive documentation and legal consequences.
Fuck Transphobia: The Right Way
While JK Rowling funds anti-trans legislation across the ocean, here's how to protect trans rights in your community:
Audit Your School Board's Policies - School boards are ground zero for anti-trans policies. Attend every meeting. Review every policy. Create a parent-student coalition specifically focused on protecting trans students. Be louder than the transphobes.
Create Trans-Safe Business Networks - Organize local businesses to display visible signs of trans inclusion. Create a local directory. Boycott businesses that don't explicitly welcome trans customers. Your economic power matters in small communities.
Run for Local Office - School boards, library boards, and city councils are where anti-trans policies start. Run yourself or find progressive candidates specifically committed to trans rights. These elections often come down to a few hundred votes.
Protect Medical Providers - Identify providers offering gender-affirming care in your area and organize community protection. This means physical presence when needed, legal support, and public pressure on local officials to protect these essential services.
Cut Off the Money - Stop buying Harry Potter shit. Period. But go further - identify local businesses supporting anti-trans politicians and organize boycotts. Make it economically painful to fund hate.
Save Our Queer Youth: They Will Be There For Us in the End
As Trump tries to gut LGBTQ+ crisis services, here's how to build local safety nets:
Create Community Response Teams - Train local volunteers in crisis intervention specifically for LGBTQ+ youth. Partner with mental health professionals. Create local hotlines that can operate if national services are cut.
Establish Safe Houses - Coordinate with trusted community members to create emergency housing for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. Make their locations known to school counselors and trusted teachers.
Force School Accountability - Demand your school board implement LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and suicide prevention programs. Show up with statistics. Name the risks. Make them go on record opposing life-saving measures.
Fund Local Mental Health Services - If the federal government cuts funding, organize local fundraisers specifically for LGBTQ+ youth services. Partner with established organizations like Trevor Project to create local chapters.
Create Youth Support Groups - Establish regular, accessible support groups for LGBTQ+ youth. Meet in libraries, community centers, or friendly religious spaces. Make sure transportation is available. Sometimes survival is simply knowing you're not alone.
It’s On Us to Fix It: Fight With Us
The fascist playbook relies on our fatigue and hopelessness. They want you scrolling Twitter in despair rather than organizing your neighborhood. But here's the unvarnished truth: local action works. It's slower than we want, messier than we like, but it fucking works.
When you protect one trans kid in your school district, you've just done more good than a thousand angry tweets. When you fund one local journalist to keep covering city council meetings, you've built a shield against authoritarian overreach.
Don't wait for permission. Don't wait for the perfect organization. Start with five neighbors who give a shit and grow from there.
Your rage is justified. Your exhaustion is understandable. But your action is essential. So take this visceral anger and transform it into methodical, relentless local pressure. Because that's the only thing these fascist fucks actually fear - organized communities who refuse to go away.
Fight today so you can breathe tomorrow.
Sources:
Civil Liberties Defense Center: "Know Your Rights: Protesting and Free Speech"
Lambda Legal: "Community Organizing for LGBTQ+ Rights"