Protect Our Rights: Harmony's Story

Outright recognizes that LGBTQ+ youth are the experts in their own lives, with unique insights and experience to lead change wherever they are. We are thrilled to share with you a series written by Vermont youth, sharing their experiences and perspectives on issues that impact them, their peers, and their communities.

Harmony Devoe is a Youth Organizer with our partners at the Education Justice Coalition. She shared the following at the Vermont Statehouse on Leadership Day.

The terms ‘anti-racism’, ‘antiracist’, ‘BIPOC’, ‘discrimination’, ‘diverse’, and ‘ethnicity’ are being removed from federal government documents. This demonstrates deliberate ignorance in the federal government.

We cannot allow Vermont to be a state that legalizes and demonstrates discrimination, even if our federal government does so. Marginalized communities are in danger under the current administration, and the State of Vermont is able to protect us.

In public schools, we need antiracism to be taught about, and Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity supports to deal with discrimination. This allows for students to understand how to be respectful and understanding citizens as they grow up, and allows marginalized students to feel validated and safe.

Vermont public schools also need to have direct consequences for students being discriminatory, to ensure students learn why their actions or words were harmful. With a President who frequently makes discriminatory remarks and actions, Vermont cannot allow this to be normalized in our state.

I have a friend who is Japanese and was called a derogatory term on the school bus. After one suspension, the student who used this language has not learned or internalized the true impact of his words, and has continued to carry out similar actions, on different students. If the student was educated on the topic and consequences were restorative, strict, and educational, it may cease these racist incidents.

The state should also protect its preserved land, such as National Forests, to honor the native Abenaki land, and not allow it to be exploited for resources, as the federal administration is threatening. Being part Indigenous American, raised to live sustainably, and a lover of the outdoors, the land is extremely important to me, and it is integral to our culture in Vermont. It saddens me to see our nation treat protected land as property to be extracted. Our conserved lands are a pride and necessity in this state, and must remain honored and protected.

Furthermore, to keep immigrants and People of Color safe in Vermont, unnecessary interactions with law enforcement should be limited, by prohibiting nonpublic safety traffic stops, which often lead to unnecessary danger to the person pulled over. I have seen multiple People of Color be pulled over by the same white policeman in my community, and while these safety traffic stops were public, they still instill fear, and raise the possibility of more serious interactions with law enforcement.

We also need sanctuary schools, to ensure security for undocumented students and their families. ICE cannot be allowed to deport or separate families in our state. I have a classmate who is directly impacted by the threat of deportation. When we discuss current immigration events, his face is fearful and he sinks into a seat. If even Vermont is unsafe for immigrants and their families, that would be devastating, and it cannot happen.

Vermont also needs to implement stronger restrictions on state and local resources aiding in federal immigration actions. This can be done by strengthening the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, which clarifies when officers can consider immigration status, citizenship, or personal characteristics when making law enforcement decisions. Another way to protect immigrants in our state is to end the use of Vermont prisons as ICE detentions.

Vermont needs to be a safe place for immigrants and migrants. America has long been known for its opportunity of arriving from a place of hardship and building success for yourself. My grandmother immigrated from the Philippines to find new opportunities for her education, career, and family, in pursuit of the American dream of success. If this country as a whole cannot be that under this administration, Vermont should still be that place.

Overall, in order to remain an inclusive, equitable, and resilient community, the State of Vermont must take prompt actions to protect marginalized communities in our state from federal threats.