Washington, DC – In response to the administration’s announcement that transgender individuals will be barred from serving in the military, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) issued this statement from Johanna Puno Hester, APALA National President and Assistant Executive Director of the United Domestic Workers, AFSCME Local 3930:
 
“The administration’s announcement is deeply disappointing for the transgender community. Serving our country in this capacity should be open to all Americans, and this includes the diverse transgender community throughout the country. Our AAPI community has and continues to face discrimination – from the barring of Japanese Americans from serving in the military during World War II to the current administration’s agenda to criminalize and deport millions of immigrants. We reject policies and rhetoric that perpetuate discrimination, hate, and bigotry against ours- and allied- communities, and we will continue to fight for equity and access for all marginalized communities.”

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​Washington, DC – This week, the Trump Administration issued rollbacks on guidance provided under the Obama Administration that allowed transgender students to use the restrooms matching their gender identity. The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) condemn these rollbacks that signal the administration’s betrayal of transgender and gender non-conforming students who deserve to go to school free from bullying and hate.
 
“Implementing policies that make our kids in public schools even less safe is reprehensible,” declared NQAPIA Organizing Director Sasha W. “Every child deserves to attend school without fear of discrimination, no matter where they are in the country. This a continuation of the administration’s attack on trans people - trans and gender nonconforming people were affected by the Muslim ban, by the escalation of this country’s deportation machine, and by the increase of power in the hands of police. This administration shamelessly continues to enact policies that simply do not work and that make our communities feel more unsafe in this country.”
 
“Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos did nothing to stop this rollback from happening,” added Monica Thammarath, APALA 1st Vice President and Senior Liaison at the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union advancing public education. “Now more than ever, we are calling on all states, school districts, and educators to support their students and double down on their own efforts to reject hate and discrimination. With DeVos at the head of the U.S. Department of Education, our organizing and advocacy becomes that much more important.”
 
Johanna Puno Hester, APALA National President and Assistant Executive Director of the United Domestic Workers, AFSCME Local 3930, stated: “Though this is a devastating blow to our public schools, NQAPIA and APALA will continue to fight for AAPI- and all transgender and nonconforming people because it’s evident that the federal government sure as hell won’t. An attack on one of us is an attack on all, and we will resist all policies and attempts that heighten transphobia, xenophobia, white nationalism, and hate.”
 
Gregory A. Cendana, APALA Executive Director, concluded: “A little more than a month into his administration, we have already seen LGBTQ, Muslim, immigrant and refugee communities under attack by the administration. This is fascism at work, and we will do everything in our power to resist, organize and fight back against policies that undermine and endanger the margins of our communities.”

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Washington, D.C. - Over the last couple of months, we have witnessed some of the worst forms of violence in recent history. More importantly, it has become evident that the ongoing violence that has ensued continues to disproportionately target marginalized communities.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of homophobia and transphobia in the wake of the #PulseShooting on June 12, 2016 when the lives 49 of our queer and trans brothers and sisters, many who were Latinx, were swiftly taken away.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of Islamophobia in the aftermath of the shooting in Orlando as our Muslim brothers and sisters were scapegoated to fuel anti-Muslim bigotry as an opportunity to advance gun reform policies that would heighten discrimination and profiling.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of xenophobia in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 non-decision in the case known as Texas v. United States that continues to deny administrative relief from deportation to millions of immigrant families across the country.
 
We witnessed the ongoing impact of police brutality in the killings of Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as well as the hundreds of other Black lives taken as a result of police violence.
 
We witnessed the ongoing culpability of our criminal justice system with the non-indictment of police officers involved in the killings of 12-year old Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Jamar Clark, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.
 
We witnessed the ongoing criminalization of a woman’s right to abortion and basic reproductive health services in cases like that of Purvi Patel who will continue to serve time in prison despite being wrongly convicted of feticide and criminal neglect of a minor.
 
Unfortunately, these are only some examples of ways state and systemic violence have continued to prevent efforts towards achieving progressive changes within our communities. However, as a result of the model minority myth, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) continue to be used as a racial wedge to divide people of color, and we are demanding an end to the positioning of AAPIs as tools of white supremacy that support systems of whiteness and propagate anti-Blackness.

“APALA has always utilized an intersectional framework in all the work that we do. I am incredibly excited for the launch of the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge because it reinforces important intersections that exist across all marginalized communities,” said National President Johanna Puno Hester. “I am taking the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge because as a mother, I am forced to think about how the injustices of this world not only impact me but more importantly, my daughter. I refuse to be a bystander because I want to envision a future where my daughter and future generations after her can live in a country that is just and free.”   
 
The #NotYourModelMinority Pledge is a call to action for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community as well as our co-conspirators to help shift the narrative and culture associated with the broader AAPI community. By taking the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge we are committing ourselves to a future where Black lives; people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals; differently-abled people; Indigenous communities; people of various spiritual beliefs; working-class and immigrant communities; and women are freed from state sponsored and institutionalized forms of discrimination, racism, and violence.
 
In our current political moment, we have been given a choice to stand on the side of freedom and justice.
 
Now we ask: What side will you stand on?
 
Take the #NotYourModelMinority Pledge now: http://bit.ly/NYMM-Pledge
For information on the full campaign: www.notyourmodelminority.org
Interested in becoming an organizational partner? Click here: http://bit.ly/NYMM-CoConspirator
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