By Jos Truitt • @jostruitt • 12 years ago

Van Jones on labor and LGBTQ solidarity

I heart Van Jones. Check out this brief but powerful clip of Van, a leader in the movements for green jobs and racial justice, talking about valuing all sorts of families, and the need for solidarity between movements, specifically for labor and LGBTQ rights. The video was shot at a labor rally during Netroots Nation by COLAGE, an organization for people with an LGBTQ parent.

Transcript after the jump.

You know, in America we’re supposed to believe in liberty and justice for all. I take that for “all” very very seriously. We’re so blessed now, we have a country with so many different kinds of family, so many different kinds of people here, the wisdom of all people. But pretty much every American family at the base is the same: people want love, respect and opportunity. And we’ve gotta stand up for that. We have our labor unions under attack, people being mistreated, rights we fought for all these years are being thrown away. We’ve gotta get that back. At the same time we’ve got the movement for equality for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender. That movement is struggling forward, but also under attack. We need to stand together to make sure we have jobs for everybody, opportunity for everybody, fairness for everybody. Let’s bring these fights together and really have a country that lives up to liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much.

Boston, MA

Jos Truitt is Executive Director of Development at Feministing. She joined the team in July 2009, became an Editor in August 2011, and Executive Director in September 2013. She writes about a range of topics including transgender issues, abortion access, and media representation. Jos first got involved with organizing when she led a walk out against the Iraq war at her high school, the Boston Arts Academy. She was introduced to the reproductive justice movement while at Hampshire College, where she organized the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program’s annual reproductive justice conference. She has worked on the National Abortion Federation’s hotline, was a Field Organizer at Choice USA, and has volunteered as a Pro-Choice Clinic Escort. Jos has written for publications including The Guardian, Bilerico, RH Reality Check, Metro Weekly, and the Columbia Journalism Review. She has spoken and trained at numerous national conferences and college campuses about trans issues, reproductive justice, blogging, feminism, and grassroots organizing. Jos completed her MFA in Printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute in Spring 2013. In her "spare time" she likes to bake and work on projects about mermaids.

Jos Truitt is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Development.

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