9.22.26 Action Center Update

Written By Side With Love

Welcome to the Action Center Weekly Update. Each week, we’ll share:

  • A brief analysis of critical issues in this political moment

  • Immediate actions you can take

  • Resources to deepen knowledge and strengthen our collective work to side with love

Nothing is inevitable. Justice movements are built by ordinary people who come together to defeat oppression and nurture a loving world. You are not alone. We have power. Together, we can create a just and thriving future.

Movements are strongest when we act together. Organize with your teams and networks, and take these actions in community. For practical tools, see our Organizing School and Trainings & Webinars.

Decriminalization & Immigration

Core Principle: Criminalization and dehumanization deny the dignity of our communities. Safety cannot come at the expense of others. As people of faith, we proclaim a future of care, abundance, and mutuality—not domination.

The Update:
In the last week, we have seen both more ICE violence in the shooting of Austin community member Wilber Rafael Garces Perez and wins from community power with the release of Springfield (OH) Pastor Joubert Adrien on bond. As Springfield Organizer Wislande Hensley said, “It is a moment that reminds us of what is possible when a community refuses to remain silent, when people stand together and when organizing turns concerns into collective action.” 

As people who believe that safety comes from community, we must continue to show up and create these wins while tending to the ongoing violence from ICE, federal law enforcement, and more.  At the press conference Monday calling on ICE to release and treat Garces Perez,, TXUUJM director Rev. Erin Walter said, “ICE is an evil institution. It is our obligation as people of faith to end it: to abolish ICE, end detention and the prison industrial complex in this country.”  May we each do our part.

Take Action:

Take action in solidarity with Haitians in Springfield, OH amidst the anti-Black, anti-immigrant ICE violence there: 

  • Support Haitians who’ve lost TPS (Temporary Protected Status) by calling your senators to support S.4814, the bill to extend Haitian TPS for three years.    

  • Consider joining the Unshackled Springfield October Pilgrimage (the UU Solidarity Initiative will share details as they become available) 

  • Possible call around Wilber / Austin

Resources:

  • Read:

  • Learn:

  • Join:

  • Side with Love Democracy Defense and Community Safety Training, Wednesdays, 7-8:30pm ET The Democracy Defense and Community Safety Training series is designed to expand our capacity for election protection and neighborhood defense. We will share concrete safety tools and practices for our collective wellbeing. Drop in to one or each of these trainings!

  • Find a UU the Vote 2026: Ignite Solidarity, Reimagine Democracy, Solidarity Summit near you - many are happening this weekend and next weekend, and you won’t want to miss these regional interfaith justice training and practice gatherings designed to strengthen the connections, skills, and capacities needed for this moment. These gatherings bring together Unitarian Universalists, people of faith across traditions, lay leaders, organizers, advocates, and community partners to strengthen regional networks, deepen relationships, and practice the kind of solidarity this moment demands.

  • Watch/Listen:

    • Watch Side with Love’s Gathering on Solidarity to be inspired and motivated by song, prayer, and UU leaders like Rev. Kellie Kelly (“I had to get to a place where I could open myself up to realize that there isn't scarcity in our liberation.”), Aisha Hauser (“As a  Unitarian Universalist, I lean into the affirmation that everyone deserves to thrive, not just survive”), and Rev. Jason Lydon (“Solidarity means trying  to run the same risks, and being willing to put ourselves at risk.”)

Climate Justice

The Update:

LGBTQIA+ beloveds, especially trans folks, are among the people hurt first and worst by climate disaster. 

LGBTQ+ people are up to four times more likely to be permanently displaced during extreme weather events.  This rate is higher in states with anti-LGBTQ laws, and highest for LGBTQ+ people of color, especially Black LGBTQ+ folks.

In every community, trans people navigate harassment, exclusion, and violence just for being ourselves.  Trans people experience higher rates of poverty, homelessness, lack of insurance, chronic illness, job and housing discrimination, and medical care denial than our cis peers.  How will this escalate during a crisis?  These baseline conditions do not change during a disaster; disasters only multiply the existing risks, structural volatility, and daily indignities. 

If you are a cisgender (not transgender) person, and you are thinking ‘well maybe that’s true in other places, but trans people are safe in my community,’  Ask yourself, ‘are transgender, nonbinary, and genderqueer people fully welcome as full people with full dignity in all spaces in my community?’  If we are truly honest with ourselves, the answer is no.

Check in: How are trans people criminalized in your state?  Is there a public bathroom we can safely use?  Can young trans people access the medical care we deserve? Is there a gender-affirming emergency shelter?  What are the barriers to updating names or sex markers in legal documents?  In emergency triage settings, will trans people receive the same care, the same dignity, as cisgender patients?  Will our personhood be disrespected when we try to get food? 

Within our UU congregations, we must honestly ask ourselves, Do members of our congregation continue to give excuses for misgendering someone?  Are singular trans people regularly put in positions to speak or educate on behalf of every trans person?  Do members of our community continue to agree with far-right talking points on whether girls should play sports?  Do we take seriously that bathroom and sports bans are efforts to eliminate trans people from public life?  Are you actually in honest and compassionate relationships with any trans people?  We must practice faithful integrity and constantly advance dignity. 

How do you think climate disaster will escalate these conditions?

We know that the climate crisis is not an isolated and singular challenge.  Climate justice is racial justice, gender justice, immigrant justice, Earth justice, and so much more.  When climate disasters strike, even our best intentions are strained.  We can’t assume that we will center love and prioritize justice by default.  We need to be intentional now.

Let us be very clear: we are in the midst of a global anti-gender movement.  In the U.S. this looks like: abortion bans, gender-affirming care bans, criminalizing bathroom usage, ongoing efforts to eliminate the right of women to vote (ie SAVE Act), defunding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, book bans, laws requiring teachers and doctors to out queer and trans youth, and more.  These attacks on dignity quite literally kill people and destabilize community trust while advancing the lie that only some people deserve decency.  Anti-gender and anti-climate policies are primary pillars of far-right, authoritarian politics. 

Like every anti-gender and anti-bodily autonomy act, these violent and anti-democratic actions most impact Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other women, trans, nonbinary, and genderqueer people of color. White supremacy continues to be a tremendous barrier to dignity. This violence is additionally escalated for people who are also poor, disabled, rural, and young. 

“Embracing transgender, nonbinary, intersex and gender diverse people is a fundamental expression of UU religious values. [...] As a people who put love at the center of our faith, that love calls us to fully embrace equity for transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender diverse people in our congregations and the wider world.”

Our communities need safe places when disaster strikes.  UU congregations can be those safe spaces - climate resiliency hubs -  that are actually safe for trans people. 

To name some barriers: 

  • If a food site is not obviously queer and trans affirming, beloveds will have to decide if we’re hungry enough to risk anti-queer and anti-trans harassment

  • If only people who show legal ID are able to access a resource, anyone without an ID, or anyone with a seemingly inaccurate ID, may be unable to access that resource. This barrier is escalated for homeless beloveds who cannot reliably secure their belongings (especially in communities where encampments are literally bulldozed and/or police arrest people for existing or sleeping in public).

  • If a beloved cannot use the restroom in our home (power outage and no spare water for manual flush), and there’s a working public one, can we safely use that (without fear of harassment, arrest, fines, or imprisonment)? 

  • If a shelter is sex-segregated, will a trans or nonbinary beloved be turned away? Will we be forced to decide between our dignity, our safety, and a dry place to rest?

Despite clear and increasing denials of our dignity, trans people continue to build networks to care for each other amidst the daily violence we are subjected to. Queer and trans people effectively leverage these networks to recover from climate disasters to ensure that every community member (not just queer and trans folks) is taken care of.  As our congregations work to increase dignity during climate disaster, we must partner with local trans-led groups to strengthen collective safety. 

A rising tide lifts all boats. A rising tide drowns whoever is left behind. 

When the most marginalized members of our community know dignity, we will all be on that rising boat. 

Take Action:

  • This coffee hour, ask members of your congregation, “What does our community need for everyone to be safe and protected in the face of climate disruption?” You can find more prompts from the UU Values and Climate Resilience Hubs question guide. 

  • Gather your climate and justice ministry teams to watch Climate Justice is Love, one of our Climate at the Intersections videos featuring Side with Love Climate Justice Fellow Elio Farley. Although Elio does not highlight their position as an openly transgender UU seminarian, his encouragement for UUs to be relentlessly loving calls us to live and organize into our Unitarian Universality faith.

Resources:

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 7:00 PM -  8:00 PM ET (Please note the Time Zone!)

Drop into any of our monthly Office Hours to ask questions, learn what other congregations are doing, and get the support you need to create climate justice in your community. Offering shared learning and mutual supports, the new Green Sanctuary 2030 process and community of practice are here to support any UU working on climate justice. 

Guided by UU values, the Green Sanctuary 2030 community nurtures resilient, thriving communities through climate actions that prioritize justice.  When we gather to celebrate progress together, we create a community of shared learning and mutual supports.

To prepare for our time together, please review our short Green Sanctuary 2030 Orientation Video and FAQ.

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 7:00 PM -  8:30 PM ET (Please note the Time Zone!)

The Trump Administration has removed protections from more than 86 million acres of public lands, and millions more of our beloved landscapes and wildlife are in imminent danger of expanded mining, drilling, and timber harvests with limited consultation with Tribes and Nations and public comment. As our lands, waters, and habitats are under attack, UUs passed the 2026 AIW to Defend Against the Assault on Environmental Protections: Public Lands Rules and the Endangerment Finding. As part of our Standing Rock Anniversary events, join Deb Cruz from JUUstice WA, for a discussion about current issues and how we can protect public lands from the onslaught of logging, fossil fuel and other extractive industry projects.---Guided by UU values, the Green Sanctuary community nurtures resilient, thriving communities through climate actions that prioritize justice. All are invited to join our monthly community meetings to learn together, support each other, and celebrate progress.

This year, the book is called Radically Reframing Climate Change: The Guide to Saving Ourselves by Will Hackman. He argues that the main problem isn’t scientific or fact-based, but rather political, emotional, and ideological. He identifies three leading barriers to solving climate change: polarization, paralysis, and inadequate messaging. Framing the climate crisis as a humanity crisis, Hackman encourages readers to convert their anxiety and anger into action. Learn more. Register.

 Together, we practice the world we long for. Together, we win.

Side With Love
Next

9.15.26 Action Center Weekly Update