My 2025 A to Z Challenge theme is activism. I’ve been a Black Lives Matter activist for over a decade. I’m not an expert. I do have experience to share and I’m hoping to learn from your experiences, too. We’re all in this together.

When I think about how I would re-write Martin Niemöller’s famous quote/poem, I can’t decide which of these would be the first line:

First they came for the brown-skinned immigrants, and I did not speak out—because I was not a brown-skinned immigrant.

Or…

First they came for the trans people, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trans person.

That’s not a contest that anyone wants to win.

It’s also not a contest that I want to play because it is so far removed from the values that I was taught were American and moral.

I first heard Martin Niemöller’s quote in church, not school. We were taught to take great pride in the fact that Martin Niemöller was a Lutheran pastor who spent years in Nazi prisons and concentration camps because he was a Christian who did, eventually, speak up for the Jews to say that the Holocaust was wrong.

One of my great heartbreaks at this juncture in history is how people have twisted Christian values to the point that the Martin Niemöller quote is relevant again.

Missouri, with its Republican super-majority in the legislature and in state-wide offices, has been one of the most egregious states for cruelty about gender. They just slipped a line into an anti-abortion bill this week that denies gender-affirming care to children.

Fortunately, Missouri also has PROMO, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ Missourians. I love their Vision Statement:

Missouri is a state in which LGBTQ+ people – every race, ethnicity, demographic, zip code, and experience – are valued and thriving.

I sat in on a meeting with PROMO a few years ago. They are the most organized and effective group I’ve seen for rapidly setting up witnesses and supporters for committee hearings in Jefferson City. I was thinking of them when I wrote my L is for Lobbying post.

PROMO’s page on Transgender Justice is informative about what legislation is currently in effect in Missouri and contains advice and support for people who suffer due to unjust laws.

As I was writing this post, I realized that I wasn’t signed up for PROMO’s newsletters. I fixed that by clicking on the Stay Updated button at the top of their web page.

Does your state have an equivalent to PROMO?