Take heart. We can do this. We already are.

I am publishing this letter, which I received from the fabulous organizer and dear friend Jaclyn Friedman, on The Vulnerable Advocate. Jaclyn founded Educate US “to build the movement to transform U.S. sex education for good."

Her letter spoke to me with its welcome news of good work. For me, it is really about what we can do in this crisis period, about our agency within the democratic space won by others before us. It is not about our hopes for what Barack, Elizabeth, Chuck, Alexandria, Corey, Kamala, or Bernie might or might not do for us, but what we each can and must consider doing ourselves. I hope, for you, it delivers encouragement and lifts your spirit.

~ Charles

Dear Charles,

100 days into the new MAGA regime, I feel both 100 years older than I did in January, and also shocked to discover that it will already be May tomorrow.

However this milestone finds you, it’s a good moment to take stock of what we’ve learned so far, and how we can use those learnings to fight and win.

For me, the lessons for the movement for sex ed break down into three general buckets:

Always listen to Lisa Simpson.

1. They’re trying to do everything they said they were going to do. Believe me, it’s no fun to be a Cassandra, but those of us who were yelling about Project 2025 last year were exactly right. Already this year, we’ve worked with partners grappling with whether to comply with or refuse Trump’s Executive Orders censoring what can be taught in schools, partners who need advice and support around increasing security and working with immigrant communities, partners who are figuring out how to face down literal Nazis marching in the streets of their community, and at least one partner who is likely closing this summer because federal funding has dried up. All in a little more than three months.

2. Appeasing the regime only makes things worse. M. Gessen explained this to us in February, and now we’re watching it play out in real time. Columbia University gave in to the regime’s demands. Now, Trump wants to take them over completely. Meanwhile, Harvard told the regime to pound sand, and within a week, MAGA world was mumbling about how it was all a misunderstanding and trying to back away from that fight. That’s why we’re so grateful to our colleagues at Advocates for Youth for taking an early stand and sacrificing their federal funding in the process. And why it matters so much that 22 states have refused to censor classroom curricula, even under threat to their federal funding
   

3. We can still win. And we are notching wins, at every level. We’re winning locally –- like in April, when our endorsed school board candidate Kristen Barnett ousted a Republican incumbent to take a seat on the school board in Springfield, IL. We’re winning in the states – even in red states like Indiana, where last week people like you and me forced a consent education mandate back into a bill after a right-wing legislator tried to take it out. We’re winning in the courts, where three different judges all recently took action to block the MAGA regime from defunding schools that teach that racism and trans people exist. And we’re winning even at the federal level, where in the face of pushback, HHS just restored funding to a landmark study of women’s health that they had previously slashed.

Do the wins negate the losses? Obviously not. But win or lose, every time we fight, we slow them down, forcing them to use up resources they could have otherwise used to do more harm. Every win we pull off proves they are beatable and emboldens even more people to get involved in the fight.

So take breaks and take care of yourselves and your community. But also take heart. We can do this. We already are.

If this cat hasn't given up, we're not going to either,

Jaclyn

Click here for Educate US action