We’re launching a campaign called Trans Sanctuary Davenport: we want Davenport City Council to pass an ordinance that protects people who are receiving or providing gender-affirming or reproductive healthcare.

At a time when the State of Iowa and the Federal Government are restricting the rights of trans people and denying them healthcare, along with further restricting access to abortion, we work to ensure that the third-largest city in Iowa will do whatever it can to protect bodily autonomy and not submit to external pressure.

Traditional party priorities are dramatically misplaced when it comes to trans rights. The Democratic Party is supposedly the thing that stands between us and fascist control of our bodies. However, their willingness to abandon marginalized groups means we are not willing to trust them with stakes as high as these and must demand they act for their residents. The rise of the far-right and the GOP’s near-total control over Iowa’s government have left the Democrats willing to abandon people. Too many prominent Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Iowa’s own Rob Sand have embraced far-right talking points around trans people, foolishly hoping that dabbling in right-wing cultural war issues will make the Democrats somehow more appealing. Trans community members are the sacrificial lambs in their quest for power.

As socialists, we’re committed to building solidarity with all working people: an injury to one is an injury to all. We reject dabbling in hateful and exclusionary rhetoric to somehow win over voters. Instead, we’re building a movement of working people and aligned organizations to fight for our rights.

We’re not alone: we’re doing this campaign as part of DSA’s Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Campaign. We’re working alongside DSA chapters who’ve been able to pass similar legislation in Columbia, MO, and Ithaca, NY. While we want an ordinance passed today, as part of DSA’s political program Workers Deserve More, we want Medicare for All, a universal healthcare system free for anyone in the U.S. that covers gender-affirming care and abortions.

This fight is for Davenport, but we’re part of a global movement for social and economic justice.