Listen to those who are directly impacted by Cromaine’s harmful rhetoric

This is a video of a trans community member speaking out at Cromaine’s special meeting in June regarding anti-LGBTQ policies that the extremist majority are pushing through. She has been a Hartland resident for 20 years- growing up and going to school here. This is some of her speech:

“Is this policy that you are working on here tonight, is it going to be the end? Because to me, it feels like one tiny step. And it’s a tiny step that doesn’t seem that bad, but it’s a tiny step to having the library ban books about people like me and saying that people like me are sexualizing children, which I have a problem with. One of the reasons is, you have a really really weird and inconsistent definition of “sexually explicit” . . . people who have odd opinions are the ones defining what “sexually explicit” is and then say that we are the ones sexualizing children. So, we have the tiniest little step… the tiniest little step… but where that step leads us, it scares me. Because I don't want to see the point where my existence is deemed “sexually explicit” or when my existence becomes illegal.”

There was at least one other trans community member in attendance that night, but they became so emotionally disgusted over Bill Bolin proudly exclaiming that they are “doing this all over the country!” it resulted in them being kicked out (when the aggressor- Glenn Gogoleski, who deemed himself bouncer for the evening- was allowed back in after being kicked out himself and crying to the cops).

Point is, there are not that many trans people in Livingston Co and multiple were moved to show up to these meetings where their very existence is under attack. They did this after Hartland high schoolers, Cromaine library staff, etc. sounded the alarm at previous Cromaine meetings.

Do you realize how hard this is for these folks to subject themselves to HOURS of disgusting rhetoric just to hopefully, maybe, get to have a couple minutes to have their voice heard? Note: Bill Bolin saw that the majority of speakers were against his bigoted censorship-yet again- and actually tried to take away from their time to speak!

We just want to recognize the effort and emotional labor that is falling on this community and wish more people that call themselves “allies” were taking some kind of actual action to assist.

We don’t have the privilege to give up right now. Shit is overwhelming and HARD, but you can’t be numb and do nothing because that is literally their goal. When you are inactive that is ceding power to a fascist regime and we can’t allow that to happen here. Everyone needs to start getting more and more comfortable with the idea that “I have to put more skin in the game. I might have to risk something beyond a protest or a boycott.” Civil disobedience has been practiced in this country forever, it was one of the reasons the civil rights movement was so successful. Just saying, because protesting and emailing… it ain't cutting it. And honestly, we aren't even seeing many people doing those most basic of things.

Get involved today.

June 14th

Rally & March @ Howell City Hall 12-2 pm

June 16th

SAGE’s Pride Picnic in Hartland 6-7:30 pm

June 17th (Third Tuesday)

Black Feminism Book Club in Fowlerville 6-8pm

June 19th

Cromaine Library Board Meeting in Hartland 7 pm

June 21st

FREE Woodshop Class in Howell,

-Build and take home a harvest box!

June 23rd (Fourth Monday of every month)

Brews n Views in Howell, 6-8pm

July 10th Hartland Music Hall 6-8pm Emergency Community Forum re: the attack on our local libraries.