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Organize against transphobia
Introductions / oat-faq
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Who We Are
OAT was formed in late 2022 as a queer defense and community organisation in the wake of anti-trans bills being proposed in South Carolina. We are dedicated to fighting transphobic legislation and improving the quality of life for all queer people in South Carolina, but we will continue to fight long after these bills have been defeated. OAT's uniting goal is total victory over transphobia in the South and beyond, and we will continue to fight until this goal is achieved.
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How to Get Started Join a Working Circle!
To join a circle you will grab a role from the #role_assign channel in the discord by reacting to the message with the circle(s) you would like to join. You can also go to a meeting, look in the big to-do document, or reach out in the corresponding channels in the discord to get involved. Description of what a working circle is Legislature Research Keeping up with the legislation we are following, keeping an eye out for new harmful legislation, and organising responses to this legislation. Mutual Aid Creating and maintaining community is a big part of this fight. Mutual aid works to uplift individual oat members who are having a rough moment, but we also create community building events and meet ups. Have any needs or ideas for an event please go to a mutual aid meet at 6:30 pm on Mondays. Organisation Outreach This goes along with building community. We are always happy to introduce more people and organisations to OAT. We also recognize that there is a lot of intersection in this struggle. If you are in an organisation or club that would like to work with OAT reach out using #org-building channel. Social Media This group works to bring attention to this harmful legislation and you know do social media things like run the instagram and twitter. We are also starting up a podcast. If you are interested in any of this please attend a social media meeting @ 7:00 pm on Sundays. To-Do List Check out our To-Do List for more specifics on current needs, plans, and project progress!
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Points of Unity
1. Our liberation is collective and our movement is intersectional. In addition to primarily opposing transphobia and queerphobia, we are against racism, fascism, ableism, misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, and bigotry in any form. 2. We do not condemn the tactics that individuals in this movement choose to use to oppose queerphobia and transphobia, as long as they don’t compromise any of our other values or points of unity. Legislative action and direct action are different tools in the same toolkit. A diversity of tactics is key to our liberation. 3. We oppose sexual harassment and abuse. We will not work with organizations or individuals that have been credibly accused of systemic abuse. 4. We are non-hierarchical. While organizations involved with OAT have representatives, these representatives serve more as points of communication than leadership 5. As long as transphobia exists in this state, we will be organized together to fight it. We aren’t just here to fight specific legislation, we’re here to fight transphobia in all its forms in South Carolina. 6. Regardless of our individual ideologies, we are united in our goal of trans and queer liberation.
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Current Projects
Educational Outreach We are working on creating some resources to distribute to various organizations to help teach others about the legislation we are opposing. If you would like to know more about this or would like to help out in this project please reach out in the #general-comms channel Instagram Generally the help we need here is coming up with post ideas and getting those ready to post. If you have ideas or want to start working on getting some posts finalized visit our trello board. Need some more info? Please attend a social media meeting on Sundays @ 7:00 pm. We are always looking for fresh ideas and want to see what people like/dislike, so don't feel intimidated. Mother’s Day Celebration We are just beginning to plan a mother’s day celebration at the state house and potentially work with Free Mom Hugs. For more information please reach out in #in-person-protests or attend a mutual aid meeting on mondays at 6:30 pm.
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OAT Podcast This is a project that has just recently gotten started. We are trying to write, record, edit, and upload podcast episodes. We need a lot of hands for this with various amounts of commitment. A good way to get started in this project would be to attend a social media meeting which tend to be on sundays @ 7:00 pm. Need a quick project? Add some ideas to the list of future episodes or get started on turning an idea into a script. Voice Training This project is on hold until the fall, but we are working to get a voice coach to work with us to host a gender affirming voice training lesson. Interested in working on getting this set up? Please go to a mutual aid meeting on mondays @ 6:30 pm. Website Our website is currently under construction, but becoming progressively better! If you have ideas on improvements or have any skills/experience related to website design you’d like to offer, please reach out and ping mods or organisers using @Moderator or @Organizer
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Meeting Schedules
Mutual Aid Meeting (Virtual) Mondays, 6:30 PM EST Do you need anything? Do you want to help your community? Come out and coordinate mutual aid with us! This is where most events get planned and we check in on each other. If you’re interested in planning events, coordinating between orgs, reaching out to your community and working with new people this is a great opportunity to get involved! Social Media Meeting (Virtual) Sundays, 7:00 PM EST Every Sunday we meet up to coordinate social media posts and work on the OATcast. If you’re interested in designing graphics, writing copy or podcast episodes, recording or editing audio or managing social media posts this is a great way to get involved! Potluck (Columbia) Thursdays, 7:00 PM EST Alternate Weeks Generally hosted by Hayden (Hayden#7329 in Discord), sign up ahead of time because there are limited spots. Please list dishes and ingredients you bring in the spreadsheet in the event description. NO NUTS! Self Defense (Columbia) Saturdays, 12:00 PM EST Alternate Weeks Come learn basic self defense skills. Taught by Matt, a trained martial artist and cool dad!
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Roles: What Do They Mean?
Member Organisations Select a role for each member organisation you are a part of! This helps others see who you’re affiliated with and allows for a general overview of what organisations have a presence in OAT. To do this you will visit the channel #role-assign and react to the posts with the emoji that corresponds to the role you would like. Carolina Socialists Charleston DSA Clemson Under the Umbrella Clemson YDSA College of Charleston TSA Columbia DSA Freedom In Libraries Gamecock Lutheran Industrial Workers of the World IRIS John Brown Gun Club People’s Army CHS PFLAG Queer Grad Student Association Socialist Rifle Association T-time Myrtle Beach Union of Southern Service Workers We Are Family WREN
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Working Circles These are specialised groups to receive pings whenever tasks or announcements need to be made for people interested in helping with certain aspects of our organisation. Legislature Research Mutual Aid Organisation Outreach Social Media
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Pronouns These are your pronouns. This is a large server and not everyone knows each other. We want to keep things respectful and selecting a pronoun role for others to be able to see how to refer to you is a huge help! If your pronouns aren’t an option reach out using @Moderator to get them added.
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Regions This is where you are from or frequent. Feel free to pick more than one role if you're in multiple areas. This helps with pinging people in specific regions for in-person events, mutual aid actions, and the like. PeeDee Lowcountry SC Midlands SC Upstate SC Out of State
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