OUT ON THE HILL is the official blog of the Victory Congressional Interns. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. Learn more about the internship at victoryinstitute.org/vci.
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Congresswoman Tlaib campaigned for Congress in 2019. She knocked on her neighbors’ doors and passed on a packet of flower seeds with the words “Sow Seeds of Change,” and “Rashida Tlaib for Congress,” printed in her signature color scheme of blue and white. One of these seed packets sits on my desk in the Congresswoman’s office. I often glance at the packet and consider what it means to be in this moment of history, looking back at the path to queer equality and equity: Decades of our queer ancestors planted seeds so that we may experience liberation. They sowed the seeds of change.
I look to those who planted the seeds for our future, to those who taught us to keep fighting forward. With anti-trans sentiments running rampant through all branches of government, and legislators across the country vying to overturn same-sex marriage, it is hard to see that two steps forward, one step back, is still one step forward.
When I look back at contemporary queerness, I see the joy and the fight from our ancestors. I see them sowing the seeds of change. The 1950s brought the Lavender Scare- the moral persecution of LGBTQ+ people in the United States government. Queer people found joy and community in spite of the targets on their backs. In moments like this, our queer ancestors were planting seeds. In 1969, the Stonewall Riots sparked a revolution that would become the Gay Liberation Movement and pave the way for greater recognition and acceptance. In 1969, our ancestors were planting seeds. In the 1980s, the community was wrecked by the AIDS Crisis as the U.S. Government allowed over 100,000 people to die in just one decade. The community came together and rose against the Government’s complete denial and neglect of the country’s most vulnerable populations. In this, our ancestors were planting seeds.
The packet on my desk reminds me that, however unprecedented this moment feels and however unstable we feel, our seeds have been planted by our ancestors, and our roots have grown strong.
On the back of the seed packet, the word “fighting” is written in Sharpie. It is an odd word to have handwritten on the back of a packet of flower seeds, but it reminds me that our seeds were not planted without strife. They were fought for as our ancestors fought for their rights.
And now it’s our turn to fight. Even as we are pulled out of the ground, roots exposed, we must fight for ourselves. We must fight to plant the seeds for the next generation. We must sow seeds of change.
