On March 10, LGBTQ+ Georgians and their allies came together for Pride to the Capitol, a day of advocacy organized by the Human Rights Campaign, Atlanta Pride, Georgia Equality, and more than 30 advocacy groups.
Along with advocacy training and opportunities for contacting lawmakers, the event included a rally at Liberty Plaza outside the State Capitol in Downtown Atlanta. Speakers and performers celebrated the LGBTQ+ community and advocated for freedom for all Georgians.
Rev. Iyalosa Estee Nena Dillard of SisterSong kicked off the rally by acknowledging the Indigenous history of Georgia and the U.S., connecting the current fight for freedom to the beginning of U.S. history.
“When the founding fathers were creating the Constitution, my ancestors were their property,” she said. “They were tending to their fields and raising their children, building their cash crop economic success, the liberty of which they wrote in that Constitution. Was it ever really about liberty? Were they thinking about queer Americans? No, they weren’t…. Were they thinking about liberation and justice for all native folks, for all children, for all immigrants? No, they weren’t, but I stand here today as a clear reflection and an opportunity for accountability.”
Noël Heatherland, the Statewide Organizing Manager for Georgia Equality, spoke about harmful bills like SB 74, which would remove an exemption protecting access to diverse information in libraries. If passed, the bill would prevent libraries from distributing “harmful materials to minors,” the definition of which includes “homosexuality” in the Georgia code.
Heatherland, who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian cult, said that this and similar bills limiting access to LGBTQ+ education, mirrored their upbringing.
“The history of our community, the amazing ancestors that we have, people to be so proud of – people like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Harvey Milk – there are people over [at the Capitol] and in D.C. that don’t want us, don’t want our young people, to have access to their stories, their information,” they said.
Li An Sanchez of Community Estrella also spoke, advocating against deportation and ICE detention centers in both English and Spanish, and spoken word performer Ryan J. and the Qindred Qoalition choir performed.
During a press conference in the Capitol rotunda, Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham also spoke out against the “shenanigans” by lawmakers, who made radical changes to HB 54.
The bill originally expanded the ability of physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to order home health services, but was amended in the Senate to include restrictions on transgender care, including a ban on puberty blockers for minors and limits on state-insured coverage.
Graham urged attendees to call their legislators and tell them to vote no on the bill, which is now back in the House following the amendments.
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Collin Kelley contributed to this article.