🚨IS SAN FRANCISCO A TRUE SANCTUARY CITY?
On Monday, SFPD was unleashed in riot gear on protestors as ICE tore communities apart while the DA worked with ICE to enact this terror among our undocumented folks.
✊Our immigrant communities are under attack and even in Sanctuary Cities like San Francisco, at least 20 people have been abducted by ICE in the past week alone, including 4 children.
🤡 Sanctuary means life-affirming resources for our communities; Mayor Lurie claims that his “responsible” budget protects & preserves services for immigrants and LGBTQ people. But while we’re under attack, he’s defunding the People’s Budget, the things that actually support everyday people.
🤖The City continues to COURT and COLLUDE with big tech. Cryptocurrency billionaire, Chris Larsen, is giving SFPD more than $9M for surveillance technology and drones. Safety and healing come from our neighbors being housed and fed, not from police putting property over human life.
🔥In the face of police aggression and heightened transphobia & xenophobia, we must be creative, build collectively, and proclaim our need for CARE NOT COPS!
📝Sign our petition & tap in at bit.ly/CNCPetition! We’re building our coalition - if you’re a part of an organization or small business in SF and interested in getting your group involved with our campaign, DM us.
🏳️⚧️ TRANS JUSTICE MEANS FREE PALESTINE. 🇵🇸
🚨🚨 Millions around the world rise up and call for an end to occupation and apartheid. We are collectively rattling the cages of systemic oppression. This moment, led by our Palestinian siblings, is building a bridge to the future that will lead us to Palestinian liberation, trans liberation, and liberation for ALL! 🚨🚨
Since the beginning of this year, the Right has proposed 586 anti-trans bills to attack our TGNC community. Trans folks have been accused of abuse, grooming, and violence simply because we desire to live and be seen in our wholeness. This demonizing script is terribly familiar as we think about Palestine and the current siege on Gaza. 😡
This Trans Day of Remembrance, we emphasize the tools and tactics wielded by fascist leaders to criminalize and punish trans people in the US are rooted in the same colonial, white supremacist, and imperialist ideology used to dehumanize and murder Palestinians. While Zionists try to justify the murder of 20,000 Palestinians with PINKWASHING propaganda of IDF soldiers holding Pride flags, we fight for the many trans and queer Palestinians struggling under the weight of Israeli occupation. ✊
As we witness increased pinkwashing by the Israeli propaganda machine, we must remain vigilant. We cannot let our trans-ness be co-opted and used to serve imperialism. We echo @queersinpalestine when they say “We refuse the instrumentalization of our queerness, our bodies, and the violence we face as queer people to demonize and dehumanize our communities, especially in service of imperial and genocidal acts.”
“We are fighting interconnected systems of oppression, including patriarchy and capitalism, and our dreams of autonomy, community, and liberation are inherently tied to our desire for self-determination.” 💛
This groundswell invites us all into the beautiful and simultaneous work of tearing down the systems that do not serve us while cultivating bold imagination for liberation. From the river, to the sea—we will continue to fight until Palestine is free. 🌊
#palestine #gaza #lgbtq #queer #tdor
🇵🇸 LET. GAZA. LIVE. 🇵🇸
Tonight, our staff & members joined over 600 Jews & allies with @jvpbayarea to sit in at the Oakland Federal Building & to demand a ceasefire NOW. 👇
The chorus of our voices filled the building for 7 hours. We looked after one another as we chanted. We sang to strengthen each other’s hearts. 🌲
We only left after each of us was arrested. We affirmed that we—Jews & non-Jewish comrades—will be in this work for the long-haul.
We refuse to let up now—the people of Gaza need us here to join them in the struggle for their safety & freedom. To end US-backed genocide. Until Gaza, until Palestine, is free. 🌱
We’ll be there. Will you join us? ✊
📸 Image Descriptions:
#1: a group of ~20 masked trans & queer API people raise their fists in a selfie.
#2: a group of people in black shirts dance in a circle in a brightly-lit hallway, while others sing in the back.
#3: a crowd of ~120 people packed into a large room sing the song “We Shall Not Be Moved” together.
#4: a crowd of ~120 people sing & clap to the lyrics “In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here. In hope, in prayer, we’re right here.”
#palestine #gaza #israel #lgbtq #asian
✨ We’re still glowing from our 2026 Member Assembly 🤩
🕺 Last month, more than 50 LavNix staff & members came together to connect & reflect on our long-term strategy and our Theory of Change
🍲 This space was a reminder of what’s possible when we come together with care and intention. We shared a nourishing meal, grounding in remembrance & song, and shared deep conversations about strategy, workshops on our lineage as QTAPIs and embodiment through somatics
🧠 As one member organizer shares: “Being in generative discussion as we collectively sculpt the future of something so dear is both an uncomfortable experience and an incredible gift. It’s almost “unusual” because I rarely get to be an explicit stakeholder in shaping strategy.”
👑 At a time when showing up can feel hard, choosing to be with our community matters more than ever. We are so grateful to everyone who made this gathering possible – volunteers, facilitators, our staff and every single member who showed up!
🌱 This is how we build: in relationship, rooted in collective care and shared purpose. This year, we’re updating our Theory of Change - stay tuned because we’re growing something powerful ❤️🔥
Last week, we celebrated Jenica’s transition from Lavender Phoenix. Everyone say: Jenica we love you! 💟
Jenica first joined LavNix as a Summer Organizer in 2021 and became a key organizer and leader of our Communications Committee. During Jenica’s staff tenure, she ensured our work was irresistible, convening artists, creating zines and coaching members in the process 🎨
In Jenica's words: “I’ve loved art, studied art & done art for work throughout my life. But it was in Lavender Phoenix I learned to shape that love for art towards a love for the people. Being challenged to step into the role of a cultural worker & what it actually means to organize under imperialism – I feel completely changed by this momentous task that LavNix introduced me to. As organizers & activists, when we create communications, zines, art, etc, we are asking ourselves: how does this bring us one step closer to revolution? How are we challenging the status quo? I hope these are questions we can continue asking ourselves even through the major changes & transitions of our movement, of which there will continue to be many.“
Thank you Jenica ✊ You’re so cherished and your friends at LavNix are cheering for you in your endeavors~ ❤️🔥
Hey community! 👋
Our Staff team would like to announce that we are pausing the Summer Organizer Program for 2026. The Summer Organizer Program (SOP) is a 9-week leadership intensive led by LavNix staff for 6-8 QTAPI people based in the Bay Area to grow their organizing skills, build relationships, and transform! 🌱
This year, our staff team decided to pause SOP to make space our Theory of Change revision process and adapt to emergent crises we know are on the horizon. 🌅
To learn more about our decision AND opportunities to connect with Lavender Phoenix this year, visit lavenderphoenix.org. 🔗
❤️🔥 LavNix 2025 In Review ❤️🔥
"LavNix has given me hope in the midst of relentless attacks, as we continue to provide a steady political home for trans and queer APIs, a home where we practice the alternative systems of care and safety our people deserve. ... Together, we will build something even more transformative, loving, and powerful than what any of us could imagine alone." - Tina, LavNix Executive Director
This past year, Lavender Phoenix organized & fought for our people, invited new practices into our work & struggled through together for the sake of deeper unity.
As we face a new year in the struggle against rising fascism: Lavender Phoenix staff & members will continue to hold our communities with radical love and rigor. ✊
Swipe through to learn what our members and staff have poured their love & labor into this past year! 🫂
&, visit the link in bio to read a letter from our new Director Tina to learn more about our work. 🔗
👋Farewell dear Yuan… & welcome beloved Tina! 💟
This past November, we celebrated the beautiful transition between Lavender Phoenix’s Executive Directors! After a beautiful 8 years in LavNix, we said goodbye to Yuan & said a BIG hello to our beloved new ED, Tina! 🎉
Yuan first joined Lavender Phoenix as a Summer Organizer in 2018, then went on to serve as a Staff organizer until 2021 when she officially became the org’s Executive Director. During Yuan’s staff tenure, she touched every part of our work from our trans justice work, our communications committee, strategizing in Core & campaigns work. She led the organization to make difficult and strategic decisions, sunsetting committees to leading new ones, that allowed the organization to grow and transform in staff capacity, member leadership and capacity as a liberatory fighting organization! 🌱
Now, we fully welcome Tina to our Staff team as our newest Executive Director! Tina comes to Lavender Phoenix with a wealth of experience from her years organizing in the SF Bay as well as with our close friends at GABRIELA @gabrielaoakland ! (Be on the look out for a beautiful letter from Tina later this month on her reflections entering this role. 👀)
Through all of 2025 – particularly our Staff Retreat, Core Retreat, our End of Year Celebration – both of these organizers have worked so hard to make this transition as easeful as possible for our org and community. Yuan & Tina: both of you are so cherished, & we look forward to seeing your continued organizing in the coming years, whether in Lavender Phoenix or elsewhere in our great movement ecosystem!
Yuan once beautifully said: “As we move forward, we know that organizing as Lavender Phoenix will mean so much more than just the words we call ourselves. Lavender Phoenix means an everyday commitment to remembering our history. It means organizing with generations in mind, that every decision we make should reflect the relationships we want to see in our world … For us, Lavender Phoenix is a name. It is a prayer. And, it is a promise.”
🫡 Thank you both. We love you so much! ❤️🔥
#Yuan #Tina
❤️🔥 YOU’RE INVITED! ❤️🔥
The Lavender Phoenix team is excited to host a ✨ very special end-of-year celebration ✨ to bring together our community – people like you who have witnessed, supported & struggled alongside us in our collective fight for liberation.
This celebration comes at an important moment of transition for LavNix:
🫂 We are honoring & celebrating our outgoing Executive Director, Yuan Wang, & her leadership over the last six years.
👋 We are radically welcoming Tina Shauf-Bajar, our incoming Executive Director.
🎉 We are uplifting the accomplishments & contributions of our members who have been organizing for true safety, healing, & abundance for our communities this year.
✊ We are rooting into interdependence & steadfastness during a time of political upheaval & increasing threats toward our people.
💌 Please join us for this beautiful celebration. We would love to see you! 💌
TLDR;
🌈WHAT: Lavender Phoenix's 2025 End of Year Celebration 🎉
📅WHEN: Sunday, November 23rd, 1-4pm PST
🌐WHERE: Humanist Hall (390 27th St, Oakland, CA 94612)
👩❤️💋👩WHO: LavNix members, volunteers, community partners, & allies!
One week left to apply to our Rise Up 2025 Cohort!!!!!! ❤️🔥
"Lavender Phoenix feels like a gathering at the edge of worlds. Here, trans and queer AAPI are shaping the material conditions of their lives not only in how they dream, but in how they lead, how they love, and how they build power together. To be trans and queer is to know, deep in our bones, that other ways of being have always been possible. Arundhati Roy reminds us that new worlds are not only possible, but they are on their way. And if we listen closely, we can hear them breathe.
It is useful to remember that love (of people, of life, of justice) is the vital force that moves ordinary people toward extraordinary acts of courage and creation. In this way, Lavender Phoenix is not only a community, but a spell cast for the world to come." — Cheryl, Rise Up Alumni and LavNix SKATE organizer.
Rise Up is a training series to prepare incoming members to become rising leaders in our movement. Across four sessions, the 2025 Cohort will root in our Lavender Phoenix history and values, strengthen our political praxis and organizing skills, and build deep relationships with each other.
If you are a trans and queer Asian and/or Pacific Islander living in the Bay Area looking for a political home, we need YOU to join Rise Up!
Applications are due Thursday 8/23 at 11:59pm PT. Please message us with any questions!
📅WHEN: Saturdays from 1-4:30 PM (exact dates: 11/8, 11/22, 1/24, 2/7)
📍WHERE: Online (Zoom details available after applications reviewed)
💻ACCESS: This event will be held on Zoom. We will provide auto closed captioning. We will do our best to meet access needs shared with us on applications!
📝APPLY HERE: bit.ly/lavnixriseup25
#AAPI #API #Gay #Trans #Healing #LGBTQ #Enby #Abolition
✊Rise up, Bay Area TQAPIs!! 🌉
🍁This fall, Lavender Phoenix will be launching our THIRD annual Rise Up Cohort! Rise Up is our membership program and training series aimed to prepare rising leaders in our movement.
📚Across four sessions, the 2025 Cohort will root in our Lavender Phoenix history and values, strengthen our political praxis and organizing skills, & build deep relationships with each other.
❤️🔥Grace Lee Boggs once said, “By being in an organization, we internalize the meaning of commitment and care.” ❤️🩹
In times of rising fascism, we know that committing to organization is key to transforming our conditions. If you are a trans and queer Asian and/or Pacific Islander living in the Bay Area looking to commit to a political home, we need YOU to join Rise Up! 🫵
Applications are due ‼️Thursday 10/23 at 11:59pm PT ‼️ Please DM us with any questions!
📅WHEN: Saturdays from 1-4:30 PM (exact dates: 11/8, 11/22, 1/24, 2/7)
📍WHERE: Online (Zoom details available after applications reviewed)
💻ACCESS: This event will be held on Zoom. We will provide auto closed captioning. We will do our best to meet access needs shared with us on applications!
📝APPLY HERE: bit.ly/lavnixriseup25
Join Lavender Phoenix & 18 Million Rising for a:
✊De-escalation and Know Your Rights Training
📅Saturday October 25th from 10-12PST and 1-3EST
🔗RSVP required by using this link: tinyurl.com/protect-our-people
(Zoom link will display access needs!)
Learn about verbal de-escalation tactics, navigating police & ICE interventions, & build Know Your Rights knowledge! 🦺
True safety comes from empathy and care - it comes from you. You have the power to take safety into your own hands and take action in escalated situations. ❤️🔥
