Amid a wave of attempts by the Trump administration to defund public services, a coalition of labor unions gathered at the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda late Tuesday to demand funding for services, including education and health care.
A large crowd packed into the Rotunda to voice their opposition to policies that have been rolled out in the first 30 days of the Trump presidency – policies that include a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, a slew of mass firings and downsizing of federal departments, including the Department of Education and the FAA and a ban on transgender athletes participating in girls’ and women’s sports.
“These guys said they were going to attack immigrants and stop birthright citizenship, we took them to court and we stopped them,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “They said they wanted to scapegoat and demonize and persecute our trans friends and family members, and we went to court and we fought to stop them from stopping gender-affirming care and we’re winning that lawsuit. They tried to freeze three trillion dollars worth of federal money. They tried to freeze Meals on Wheels, money for Medicaid, money for all kinds of stuff. We’re in court with them right now and we’re fighting them back.”
Ellison said the wider fight would not be won in a court of law, but in the court of public opinion, encouraging the crowd at the rally to meet and gather, to write opinion pieces and speak up to activate the masses to what he characterized as dangers coming out of the White House.
“It’s not just wrong, it’s immoral and it’s evil,” said the attorney general.
The Rev. JaNaé Bates, co-executive director of ISAIAH and Faith in Minnesota, said the rally that brought out several union members was to show federal and state legislators that Minnesotans would stand together to “fund our lives.”
“We are here in our house. We are Minnesotans across this state, across class, across race and ethnicity and religion, coming together to say ‘We deserve more,’” said Bates.
Kenneth Winslow Garnier, a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said working in a welfare office assisting people going through homelessness or working multiple jobs to survive, he sees firsthand what proposed cuts to social services can do.
‘When our cases fall through the cracks, real life people get hurt,” said Garnier. “We are their safety net and we need to ensure that no one is left behind and that our government is properly funded.”
Sarah Lancaster, 2022 Minnesota Teacher of the Year said instead of defunding education and educators, the federal government should be working on improving pay, pensions and health care for educators in Minnesota.
“One burden I should not face is financial insecurity,” said Lancaster, who has more than a decade of classroom experience.
Within the crowd, other educators centered the needs of Minnesota students as a priority. Edward Barlow, a music teacher and member of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MTF) was asked what message he would like to send legislators. His response was that legislators need to “value the most important resource that we have in this state and in the world, and that’s our children.”
Amelia Marquez, a social studies teacher and member of the governing board of MTF Local 59, said that she was at the rally to ensure that children’s futures were funded and protected.
“We can be a great state, we can be as inclusive as possible, but we’ve got to make sure (students) have a fully funded future as well,” said Marquez.
While leading the crowd in chants, Marcia Howard, the president of the teacher chapter of MTF Local 59, held a sign stating “Trans Rights are Our Rights.”
Anti-trans measures have been pursued federally and statewide. Federally, Trump signed an executive order that would stop trans girls and women from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, while in Minnesota, the House Education Policy Committee debated HF 12, a bill that would limit sports participation to “only students of the female sex.” Under this bill, if there is “any dispute as to whether a student is of the female sex,” the student would need to provide a note from a doctor stating that they are female based on their reproductive systems, level of testosterone and their chromosomes, to join a sports team.
“As a teacher of 26 years in Minneapolis Public Schools and a former coach in Minneapolis public schools, I am an ardent defender of the right for all of our girls, trans and cisgender, to participate in sports under Title 9,” said Howard. “Any clawback of their right to participate, I want to fight.”
Deanna Pistono is MinnPost’s Race & Health Equity fellow. Follow her on Twitter @deannapistono or email her at [email protected].
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