We all know that 2021 was an immensely challenging year. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, state legislators came after our civil liberties with extraordinary wrath. From hateful attacks on our LGBTQ+ community to an assault on our voting rights to extreme attempts to restrict our right to an abortion or erase our racist history and deny while perpetuating systemic inequality, they placed our rights, our healthcare and our very lives in jeopardy.
For all the times you sent a message to your state legislator, signed a petition, donated to our organization, shared our posts, spoke up for civil liberties and civil rights: THANK YOU.
As the year comes to a close we ask that you join us in donating what you can to local organizations that are making a real impact in the lives of all Arkansans.
Arkansas Abortion Support Network
Founded in April of 2016, Arkansas Abortion Support Network (AASN) is an all-volunteer, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to reduce barriers to abortion access in Arkansas. AASN is comprised of three arms: Arkansas Clinic Escorts (ACE), Abortion Services of Arkansas (ASA), and Community Outreach & Education (COE). ACE provides patient escorting at Arkansas’s only procedural abortion clinic. ACE volunteer opportunities include patient escorting on Saturdays and various weekdays, for 3-hour shifts covering morning to early afternoon. They also provide financial and some logistic support to abortion patients, assistance to cover costs associated with the procedure, travel and lodging, and childcare.
They believe that anyone seeking abortion services deserves to do so free from the shame, ridicule, and harassment regularly heaped upon them outside of reproductive healthcare clinics and that abortion should be accessible regardless of a pregnant person's economic or social status, or zip code. AASN believes in the dignity of pregnant people and the right to make their own decisions about their bodies, without interference from politicians, extremists, or bullies.
Intransitive was founded in March 2017 by two Trans people in response to the gap of intersectional Trans spaces in Arkansas. They have three main areas of work: Anti-violence (providing advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, support in securing emergency housing & groceries, HIV-specific care, and state sponsored violence), immigration (legal advocacy, creating Spanish content, interpretation, translations) and community building (creating culturally centered outreach events). All areas of work include skill sharing, education, the combination of art and activism, and Trans history education with a cultural approach.
Intransitive seeks to fill the gap in services at the intersections of Trans and immigration, while supporting Trans people facing violence, organizing and educating, all while ensuring the celebration our Trans resilience.