Posted on November 6, 2023
How a unique program powers positive change in the world
War, climate change, growing inequality. Plastic pollution and political chaos. Laws against women’s health and hate for LGBTQ+ people. There’s a lot of bad news in the world. You know this.
But you should also know this: there is good news. CREDO Mobile makes it every day. We do it by funding nonprofits devoted to positive change through a unique—and uniquely effective—donations program.
It works this way. When our customers use our service, they generate funds for the program. At the end of each month, we take those funds and grant them to three nonprofit groups dedicated to progressive change. Then, the next month, we do it again. Since 1985, we’ve given over $94 million to groups fighting for causes like climate justice, equal rights and an economy that’s fair for everyone.
These donations cost our customers nothing extra. But they mean everything to the groups we support. And they work. Here are just a few of the changes our nonprofit partners have powered recently.
- Amazon Watch pressed President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to veto a right-wing attempt to restrain the rising strength of Indigenous peoples in Brazil. This is a critical win for Indigenous rights and for the Amazon rainforest.
- Social Security Works shared the truth about new House Speaker Mike Johnson. He’s an enemy of Social Security who wants to raise the retirement age, cut benefits and force women to have babies so the ultra-wealthy can continue avoiding their fair share of Social Security contributions.
- Stand.earth stopped or delayed 21 fossil fuel mega-projects, from bitumen pipelines to oil train terminals to natural-gas fracking. If we are to avoid climate catastrophe, it’s crucial that projects like these be halted now.
- March for Our Lives organized nationwide protests following the horrific mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX, to demand that elected officials take action. Soon after the protests, bipartisan gun reform legislation was passed and signed into law by President Biden, the first major gun safety legislation by Congress in nearly 30 years.
- Equal Rights Advocates drove workplace-justice reforms in California to protect half a million domestic workers and garment factory workers from unsafe conditions and wage theft.
A lot of dollars for change
Our nonprofit partners were able to do all these things—and much more—because CREDO Mobile members did one thing: they used their phones. Yes, it really is that simple. And it’s enormously impactful, raising real money and powering real victories for progressive causes.
We make a difference—and that’s why we’re different. Our passion is not dollars, it’s change. And we operate a donations program robust and effective enough to make it happen.
It’s sorely needed. Just read the news. A lot of it is bad. Join us and you’ll get the great feeling that comes with knowing you’re part of a movement that brings good news to life every day.
You’ll also get everything you want in a phone company: competitive rates, great deals on new devices and service on the nation’s top-rated network.
Ready to switch? Ready to take action and make progressive change? It’s easy to do. You can bring the phone you have now. And you can choose from a variety of affordable plans to suit you—same as the other carriers.
There are not many companies these days that share your values. All too often, their values and your values aren’t even in the same area code. We’re different. We believe in positive change, just like you—and we make it happen every day. Join us.
Posted on November 6, 2023
CREDO Climate Survey shows people know it’s an emergency and are ready to act
The first step in solving a problem is to acknowledge that there is one.
Well, climate change is a problem. “We are in the early phase of a climate emergency,” warns a recent report co-authored by preeminent climate scientist James Hansen. And most people now acknowledge that it is. In a September poll by the Pew Research Center, 71% of Americans said climate change is causing some harm or a great deal of harm to people in the U.S. today.
Meanwhile, progressives—who always lead the way to solutions—are near unanimous in recognition of the climate crisis. In our just-released CREDO Climate Survey, over 95% of respondents said they’re “extremely worried” or “very worried” about climate change.
Now is the time for action
So we acknowledge the problem, at least most of us do. We must now get to work on solutions. Encouragingly, people say they’re ready and willing to start. Our survey asked respondents if they agree or disagree that they have a personal responsibility to take action to fight the climate crisis and over 98% said they “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree.”
“Each of us has a moral and ethical responsibility to do all possible for the survival of the Earth and all its creatures,” said one respondent. “I consider it a moral and spiritual call to care for creation,” said another. “I want to do my part as an individual and also engage in action with others to change systems because we need to do that to have any hope of keeping the planet livable.”
So how do we do it? We do it ourselves and we do it together. We know climate action won’t happen if we wait around for government and business. Asked how much responsibility individuals should take for the climate crisis, over 86% of respondents to our survey agreed, “A lot; it is all our shared responsibility to make change and create a sustainable future.”
CREDO Climate Project makes a difference
What government can do, what business can do, is offer solutions that make a difference so people can get started. That’s why we set up the CREDO Climate Project. The 6-week program was a partnership with five amazing nonprofits: 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, the League of Conservation Voters and the Years Project. It presented 15 ways to take meaningful action at this critical time, from joining September’s March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City to telling the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into electric utility companies that are blocking the transition to renewable energy to protect their profits.
The response was impressive and we thank everyone who got involved. Dozens joined the March to End Fossil Fuels. Almost a thousand urged the FTC to investigate electric utilities. Over 500 signed up to get climate action alerts from Earthjustice and over 400 signed up to volunteer with the League of Conservation Voters.
These actions alone will not solve the climate crisis. We know this. We also know that the only way the crisis will be solved is with small actions taken by many people. Some may look at the enormity of the climate crisis and conclude that small actions are hopeless. They’re not. They’re the only hope we’ve got.
Fight the fire: Join CREDO Mobile
Last summer (the hottest ever recorded, by a “mind-blowing” margin) we took another survey. We asked our partners in the CREDO Climate Project how the actions of CREDO Mobile members are helping in the fight to save our planet. We got a lot of encouraging replies and we’d like to share this one, from Charity Migwi, Africa regional campaigner for 350Africa.org, an African grassroots movement coming together to champion climate solutions.
“Like the hummingbird in Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai’s inspiring tale, the little things we do in the face of the climate crisis are not insignificant drops in the vast ocean of challenges. Instead, they are the courageous acts of individuals who refuse to stand idle. Just as the tiny hummingbird carries water droplets to extinguish a forest fire, our collective ‘little things’ hold the power to ignite a wave of change that will shape a more sustainable and resilient world for generations to come.”
Here’s a little thing you can do now: join CREDO Mobile. It’s a small step—switching is easy—but it will make a real impact in the effort to save our planet. Join us and, just by using your phone, you’ll generate vital donations for nonprofit groups combatting climate change.
To date, we’ve donated over $20 million to groups fighting to save our climate. With your help, we’ll donate much more in the months ahead. These donations cost you nothing extra. But they mean everything to the nonprofits that rely on us for support.
Switch to CREDO Mobile and you’ll get all you want from a phone company: the nation’s top-rated network, competitive plans, great deals on new phones and friendly, responsive customer service.
And you’ll get much more: an easy, effective way to make a difference for our climate.
Here’s another step you can take. Go to CREDO Donations and vote to send funding to nonprofits working to solve the climate emergency.
Posted on November 6, 2023
We’re now in a “climate emergency” but actions like the CREDO Climate Project are making a difference
And so it begins. “We are in the early phase of a climate emergency,” states a recent report co-authored by James Hansen, the NASA scientist who first warned the world about global warming, back in 1988. The report reveals that Earth is far more sensitive to CO2 inputs than was thought and is heating up much faster than previous models predicted.
We will breach the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels within the next 5 years. Beyond that lies a different world. A place where the heat and humidity in broad regions will regularly exceed the limits of human tolerance. Millions, perhaps billions, will seek to migrate. Many won’t be able to, many will die. Natural disasters will increase dramatically. Extreme flooding, drought, wildfires and food shortages will hit hard and often.
It’s the crisis we’ve long feared and it’s here. So what can we do? Well, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step—and that’s what we can do. Take that step. Then another, then another. Some will be big, many will be small, all will help.
CREDO Climate Project makes a difference
After last summer (the hottest ever recorded, by a “mind-blowing” margin), we launched the CREDO Climate Project to offer everyone who’s concerned about our climate steps they can take to make a difference.
The 6-week program was a partnership with five nonprofits: 350.org, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, the League of Conservation Voters and the Years Project. It presented 15 ways to take meaningful action at this critical time, from joining September’s March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City to telling the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into electric utility companies that are blocking the transition to renewable energy to protect their profits.
The response was impressive and we thank everyone who got involved. Dozens joined the March to End Fossil Fuels. Almost a thousand urged the FTC to investigate electric utilities. Over 500 signed up to get climate action alerts from Earthjustice and over 400 signed up to volunteer with the League of Conservation Voters.
These actions alone will not solve the climate crisis. We know this. We also know that the only way the crisis will be solved is with small actions taken by many people. Some may look at the enormity of the climate crisis and conclude that small actions are hopeless. They’re not. They’re the only hope we’ve got.
Think of it this way: climate change is a wildfire. And wildfires do get put out. Not easily, no. It takes time and effort. It takes a lot of work by a lot of people with picks and shovels and absolute determination. Well, we’re all firefighters now. And if we all put in the work, we can stop climate change. Hour by hour, day by day, one small action at a time, we can do it.
You can do it now. You don’t need a pick or a shovel. All you need is your phone.
Fight the fire: Join CREDO Mobile
CREDO Mobile is the one phone company as concerned about climate change as you are. We’ve donated more than $20 million to nonprofit groups fighting against climate change and for a sustainable future.
Join us and, just by using your phone, you can generate more donations for groups combatting climate change. These donations cost you nothing extra. But they mean everything to the nonprofits that rely on us for support.
Switch to CREDO Mobile and you’ll get all you want from a phone company: the nation’s top-rated network, competitive plans, great deals on new phones and friendly, responsive customer service.
And you’ll get much more: an easy, effective way to make a difference for our climate.
Here’s another step you can take. Go to CREDO Donations and vote to send funding to nonprofits working to solve the climate emergency.
Posted on November 6, 2023
Funding from CREDO Mobile powers Green America’s fight for our climate
The climate news keeps getting worse. Recently, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization reported that global temperatures will surge past the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels within 5 years. Not 50 years, not 15 years, not the year 2100. We’ve got 5 years.
And then what? Beyond 1.5 degrees lies “uncharted territory,” the UN warned, with “far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment.”
Our condition is dire and it is urgent that all possible solutions be applied. One of them is capitalism: supply and demand. It’s the system that got us into this mess and it can help us get out. We, as consumers, must demand that corporations pursue long-term sustainability, not short-term, climate-killing profit and growth.
This is why we at CREDO Mobile support Green America, which harnesses economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
In April, CREDO mobile customers and community members voted to support Green America’s mission to take economic action for the planet and achieve a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the abundance of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.
Backed by our donation, Green America has recently made real progress toward cooling our climate. Here’s a brief report from our friends at Green America describing the ways that our donation is making a difference.
Recent victories
Green America has scored a number of wins recently. They’re important in and of themselves and, in the big picture, they’re vital to demonstrating that economic action by consumers can achieve real results for our planet.
Green America’s Cool It campaign urges major supermarket chains to transition away from refrigeration systems powered by super-polluting, super-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and better manage leaking systems. In September, Kroger, the latest target of the Cool It campaign, publicly committed to rolling out infrared leak-detection in all its stores by 2024. Although there is more to be done to get Kroger to move away from HFCs altogether, this announcement shows that the Cool It campaign is helping Kroger begin to understand the importance of refrigerant management as a part of its overall sustainability goals.
In addition to this victory, Green America has made progress on a number of other fronts since the CREDO Mobile grant award.
- The group secured over 20,000 signatures on its #CleanUpWireless petition, which urges the major telecommunications companies to accelerate their transitions to renewable energy. That’s twice the number of signatures hoped for when the campaign was launched.
- Promoted the proxy voting season and taught Green America audiences how to participate in investor activism through the shareholder resolution process.
- Registered thousands more regenerative gardens through the Climate Victory Gardens campaign, which now stands at over 21,000 gardens.
- Hosted four free webinars, which educated over 4,000 people about gardening using soil-regeneration practices.
- Developed, published and sent two editions of Green American magazine and the annual issue of Your Green Life to Green America members.
New initiatives
Since receiving its donation from CREDO Mobile, Green America has launched a campaign to tell the truth about biomass energy as part of its Climate Action & Clean Energy Program. Biomass energy, also known as bioenergy, is the burning of wood pellets to produce electricity. Though wood pellet production requires cutting down millions of trees and wood pellets release more carbon than coal when burned, biomass production is often marketed as “clean” or “green” energy. To make matters worse, polluting wood pellet plants are most often located near environmental justice communities in the Southeast, so countering the rise of biomass is a climate justice priority.
Green America has teamed with Dogwood Alliance and local community activists throughout the Southeast to challenge the greenwashing perpetuated by the biomass industry and bring national attention to the harm caused by wood pellet production. Already, it has engaged 7,000 of its members in the campaign through a petition urging Enviva, the world’s largest producer of biomass wood pellets, to preserve forests and protect environmental justice communities from the harm caused by its processes. The petition is scheduled for submission to Enviva by the end of October, when it should have 15,000 total signatures.
If you’d like to learn more or get involved with Green America, please visit GreenAmerica.org. And follow Green America on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Posted on November 3, 2023
Our October grantees thank you for your support
Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible nonprofits. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund groups fighting for climate justice, strengthening our democracy and empowering AAPI women and girls. In October, CREDO members voted to distribute our monthly donation among Animal Legal Defense Fund, Brennan Center for Justice, and National Network to End Domestic Violence..
These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our October grant recipients thank you.
Animal Legal Defense Fund
“Thank you for your support of our movement. CREDO members like you help us create meaningful, systemic change by protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system.” – Chris Green, Executive Director, Animal Legal Defense Fund
To learn more, visit www.aldf.org.
Brennan Center for Justice
“Thank you CREDO members for encouraging the work of the Brennan Center for Justice! We are deeply grateful for your partnership in the fight for democracy and justice reform, and in ensuring that every voice – and every vote – counts.” – Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center for Justice
To learn more, visit https://brennancenter.org.
National Network to End Domestic Violence
“Thank you! Support from CREDO members like you makes it possible for NNEDV to improve outcomes for survivors, their families, and communities and continue our work to create a world in which domestic violence no longer exists.” – Sandeep Bathala, Vice President of External Affairs, National Network to End Domestic Violence
To learn more, visit nnedv.org.
Now check out the three groups we are funding in November, and cast your vote to help distribute our donations.
CREDO members who use our products are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile, the carrier with a conscience.
Posted on November 2, 2023
How to prevent apps from accessing your personal data
Smartphone apps can collect a whole lot of data about you:
Your name and email address, location history, personal contacts, photos and videos, purchases, health and fitness data, financial information, browsing and search history, your IP address and other sensitive data.
Why? Your personal data is worth money — and although Apple and Google are working to crack down, these companies may share and sell your data to third-parties, usually without you even knowing.
If you’re concerned about your privacy, here are a few steps you can take to further protect your data on your smartphone.
Stop third-party apps from collecting data on iPhone
- Limit app tracking, to prevent apps from tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites:
- Go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking > Toggle off “Allow Apps to Request to Track”
- Toggle any app in the list below to “off” as well
- Limit app access, , to contacts, microphone, photos, health, etc:
- Go to Settings > Privacy
- Click on the category you would like to limit app access (for example, Photos)
- Click on an app in the list and change the permissions
- Limit location sharing
- Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services (Note: Location services may be essential for some apps to function properly or as expected, think ride-sharing, mileage tracking or weather apps.)
- Choose an app to change its permissions
Stop third-party apps from collecting data on Android
- Limit location sharing:
- Go to Settings > Location
- Choose specific apps to modify their location permissions
- Turn off diagnostic data sharing and marketing information:
- Go to Settings > Privacy
- Toggle off Send diagnostic data & Receive marketing information
- Turn off ads personalization:
- Go to Settings > Google
- Tap Ads. Toggle on Opt out of ads personalization
- Depending on your Android model, you may need to go to Settings > Privacy to access this option
- Delete or reset your Advertising ID.
- Remove permissions from apps:
- Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission manager
- Choose and tap a permission to modify settings
- Choose the app and tap Don’t Allow, Ask every time or Allow only while using the app
Posted on November 1, 2023
Vote for the American Civil Liberties Union, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and Stand.earth this November
Every month, CREDO members vote to distribute our monthly grant to three incredible progressive causes – and every vote makes a difference. This November, you can support the American Civil Liberties Union, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and Stand.earth.
American Civil Liberties Union
For over 100 years, the ACLU has been showing up in the courts, in the streets, and in the halls of power to defend the rights that the Constitution guarantees to everyone. From protecting abortion rights to advancing voting rights, to defending free speech, the ACLU shows up to protect our civil rights and liberties.
Funding from CREDO will help the critical work of protecting and defending the rights and liberties for all including protecting free speech and the right to protest, defending reproductive freedom, fighting anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and much more.
Mi Familia Vota Education Fund
MFVEF has an unwavering commitment to bring voter education opportunities that strengthen Latino civic voice and agency in transforming our nation’s democracy into one more representative of and responsive to the needs of Latinos, and all peoples.
Just as CREDO empowers its audiences to vote in support of a common cause, MFVEF will, too, empower those we serve to partake in democratic processes for the betterment of Latinos, and all peoples and toward a greater common cause.
Stand.earth
Stand.earth delivers large-scale change for our planet and its people by interrupting systems that create environmental and climate crises. We advocate for a future in which environmental and climate justice policies uphold the dignity of all people.
Funding from CREDO members will help Stand.earth protect old growth forests and endangered ecosystems, defeat dirty oil and gas megaprojects, and advance ambitious climate-safe policies that phase out fossil fuels and scale up clean energy solutions.
Your vote this month will determine how we divide our monthly donations among these three progressive groups. Be sure to cast your vote to support one, two or all three by November 30.
CREDO members who use our products and services everyday are the reason we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile and join our movement.
Posted on November 1, 2023
This Thanksgiving, we’ll help Feeding America serve half a million meals
There are 34 million hungry people in the U.S. Many who are workers earning low wages and can’t afford groceries after paying the month’s bills. Or who lost their job and fell into hunger by plain bad luck.
They’re people like Lamont, who supported his family working for a cable TV company when he caught a piece of wire in his eye and lost much of his vision, then his job. After that, he had a choice: pay to light and heat his home or buy groceries. Some days he and his wife didn’t eat so their kids could. Fortunately, they found a local food pantry supported by Feeding America and it got them through their hard time. Lamont is now a director at the food pantry.
This is what Feeding America does. It gives a hand to people who are hungry until they get back on their feet. The largest charity working to end food insecurity in the U.S., it partners with food banks, food pantries and local food programs to bring meals to those 34 million Americans who regularly face hunger, 9 million of them children.
CREDO Mobile supports Feeding America. And this Thanksgiving, when many sit down to celebrate with a feast, we’ll be donating funds for Feeding America to provide half a million meals to people who might otherwise go hungry.
We’re able to do this due to the support of CREDO Mobile members, who generate money for this donation—and all our donations—just by using our service. And for that we are thankful.
Since 1985, we’ve given over $94 million to nonprofit groups like Feeding America, every one of them working hard to make our world a more fair, just and sustainable place. The groups we support focus on many different issues—from climate change to social justice to women’s health—but all share a vision of a more progressive world where everyone has equal rights, a livable environment and enough food to eat.
If you’re a CREDO Mobile member, thanks for standing with us in the fight for the causes we believe in. If you’re not a member, please consider joining now and helping us support nonprofits like Feeding America.
You’ll get everything you want from a phone company: competitive rates, great deals on new devices and service on the nation’s top-rated network. And you’ll get one thing no other phone company can give: the good feeling that comes with knowing you make the world a better place just by using your phone.
Learn more about the great work Feeding America does at FeedingAmerica.org.
Posted on November 1, 2023
Mi Familia Vota Education Fund works for a democracy that serves and represents all
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This November, the Mi Familia Vota Education Fund is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will help MFVEF in its mission of uniting Latino, immigrant and allied communities to promote social and economic justice.
Read this important blog post about MFVEF’s critical work, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send funding to MFVEF to support its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding November grantees.
Mi Familia Vota Education Fund is a national nonprofit organization that builds Latino political power by mobilizing Latino, immigrant and allied communities.
What drives us
Since 2003, MFVEF has worked alongside the nation’s largest Latino communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas. Our mission to advance the voice of the Latino community is the driving force that motivates and informs our work. At MFVEF, our community is at the heart of what we do. This is why we emphasize our efforts around community engagement: to facilitate work that is truly community-driven.
Our focus
We believe achieving equitable and more just change that benefits our communities requires meaningful, on-the-ground efforts that yield community-driven solutions. Our job at MFVEF is to provide educational opportunities that raise awareness of various systemic challenges facing all of us and our communities in ways that spark community-based movement and achieve positive, just and transformational changes to the world we live in. Through year-round engagement, our social justice efforts promote:
- Civic education
- Leadership development
- Citizenship
- Issue organizing
- Voter registration and participation
Our approach
At MFVEF, we organize, mobilize, engage and educate through a ladder-of-engagement model that guides community members through leadership development on their civic journey from participant to volunteer to advocate and, ultimately, leader and champion of their community. Our investment in growing community leaders has helped create community-wide impact.
In addition, MFVEF’s work in engaging Latino communities and building partnerships with allies is guided by the “8 Patas” or 8 Pillars model of community engagement. Under this model, we work with schools, local networks of businesses, faith organizations, media outlets, community organizations, local consulates of immigrant-sending countries, labor unions and elected officials to maximize our reach and impact. We recruit leaders from each of these community areas who leverage the 8 Patas model in their community engagement, advocacy and leadership.
#MerecemosMejor, We Deserve Better Campaign
MFVEF’s approach has found tremendous success in meeting our communities where they live and where they are and has helped us reach new milestones in our MFVEF footprint. In the midst of a global health crisis, domestic division, and worldwide civil unrest and injustice, we are reminded of our mission, the communities we serve and our shared pursuit of achieving transformational systems-level change, and we have grown and adapted our work and nationwide visibility to address such global challenges.
Our #MerecemosMejor Campaign, in collaboration with our Mi Familia Vota sister affiliate and expansive list of local, state and national partnerships, was created to strengthen visibility of how we educate Latino communities and how we engage civically in our electoral process while celebrating the contributions to our communities and greater society. As the Latino community grows quickly, so has the community’s economic contributions that benefit all of our nation’s citizens because we deserve better.
We aim our campaign efforts at providing nonpartisan civic education, engagement and mobilization opportunities in ways that empower and propel our communities to address their more pressing concerns through collective action. This campaign’s long-term goal is to inspire our communities to use their voice at the ballot box in support of state leaders, officials and policies that represent their needs and beliefs.
Join the movement
As we approach the next presidential campaign year, we welcome all to join our cause! We are excited and committed to expanding our work that strengthens civic engagement, participation and representation of today’s generation of Latinos and other minority groups so that we all can thrive and prosper in a brighter, healthier, sustainable and more just tomorrow.
Because you’re valued CREDO Mobile customers and supporters, we hold your November donation vote with the utmost regard, gratitude, grace and humility, as your contribution will help fuel our guiding light on our shared journey toward achieving a democracy that works for us all!
Get in touch with MEFEV
To learn more about Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and the exciting work we do, please visit MiFamiliaVotaEducationFund.org, follow us on our social media pages (@mifamiliavota: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) and sign up for our newsletter here.
We thank you for joining us on our journey toward a democracy that works for all of us!
Posted on October 31, 2023
The ACLU: Defending the right of all people to be themselves, fully, freely and with joy
Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This November, the American Civil Liberties Union is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will help the ACLU in its mission to create a more perfect union—beyond one person, party or side—to realize the promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.
Read this important blog post about the ACLU’s critical work, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send funding to the ACLU to support its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding November grantees.
November 13 marks the start of Transgender Awareness Week, a time for us to reflect, celebrate and advocate. This year, it’s especially significant.
LGBTQ rights, and especially trans rights, are under attack. In 2023, nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ bills, most of which target transgender and nonbinary people, were introduced in state legislatures across the country. Eighty-four bills passed into law in 23 states, with 19 states passing bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth. In Congress, opponents of LGBTQ equality continue to push extremely concerning provisions, including those eroding trans people’s safety and rights, in critical government funding bills.
But the ACLU continues to fight back by working in state legislatures, challenging unconstitutional policies in court and mobilizing supporters to protect trans rights.
Client spotlight: Dylan Brandt
In Arkansas, the ACLU and ACLU of Arkansas, along with our law firm partners, are challenging a ban on gender-affirming care on behalf of clients like Dylan Brandt.
Dylan is a teenager in Arkansas who lives with his mom, Joanna, and his younger brother in a small town of 10,000 people where Joanna owns a boutique she’s been running for two years.
When Dylan finished 7th grade, he told his mom he is a boy in a note he made his brother give to her. While Joanna was initially surprised, she looked back on his life and realized that it made sense. Dylan had “rejected all things feminine” from the moment he could make decisions about his life. He had also been experiencing depression and anxiety in social situations. Dylan has now been on testosterone for over two years, which has been transformative for him. Today, he’s a happy, confident kid.
In 2021, Arkansas passed HB 1570, a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans young people. The ACLU and ACLU of Arkansas challenged this law right away and it remains blocked. If this law were to take effect, Dylan would lose the medical care he has been relying on and which he needs to sustain his health and well-being. He and his family might have to leave Arkansas.
Fighting for trans justice across the U.S.
Our case in Arkansas is part of the ACLU’s nationwide trans justice work, which includes:
- Protecting gender-affirming care: the ACLU continues to stop or delay harms resulting from bans on gender-affirming care in Arkansas, Indiana, Montana and many other states.
- Defending the rights of trans youth in school: the ACLU has pending cases in three states that would overturn cruel sports bans that prevent kids from playing with their peers, building on our recent win in Idaho.
- Defending drag performance: earlier in 2023, the ACLU successfully challenged a drag ban in Utah and, in September, the ACLU of Texas won a permanent injunction, successfully blocking a law that would have censored drag performances across the state.
- And much more.
How you can make a difference
As we continue the fight for LGBTQ freedom today, we need you to join with us.
With your support, we will continue this important work until the day that trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people can self-determine their identities and live free from violence and discrimination in all aspects of life. Whatever attacks they may throw at us, we at the ACLU are here now and always to protect peoples’ rights. Count on it.
Learn about the ACLU’s trans justice work here.
And learn more about the ACLU’s 100-plus-year history of defending civil rights and civil liberties at ACLU.org.
