By Kierra Johnson It’s open season on trans folks, and everyone, regardless of their gender, should be worried. This past legislative session in Virginia was full of committee meetings staffed with cisgender politicians questioning the rights of transgender children. While those who are defending anti-trans bills do so under the guise of protecting children, the […]
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Voting Rights, Youngkin Wrong
by Kimberly R. Nario Everyday we hear about elected officials who are actively working to dismantle our democracy. But did you know some of those very people are right here in our state legislature? Just this past session, several Republicans in both the state Senate and House of Delegates introduced bills to rollback progress on […]
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That’s A Wrap On the 2023 Legislative Session
By Ashleigh Crocker Whew! We survived another legislative session with a Republican-controlled House of Delegates and Governor Youngkin, who continues to improve his MAGA impression. We did some great work beating back bills that would have harmed our communities, and we even managed to pass a few good things! Here’s a rundown of what happened. […]
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Devastated But Never Surprised
by shay bell I’m so f*cking sick and tired of grieving over the loss of my people at the hands of police violence. On February 22, at Tysons Corner Center mall in Fairfax County, Virginia, police officers James Sadler and Sgt. Wesley Shifflett shot and killed Timothy Johnson after he was suspected of shoplifting sunglasses. […]
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Republicans Want To Ban Abortion In Virginia
by Ashleigh Crocker Well, we’ve known this was coming since Roe fell in June. Republicans in Virginia are trying to ban abortion in Virignia. Tomorrow, the Health Professions Subcommittee of the Senate Education and Health Committee will hear two bills and a resolution that would ban abortion. Everyone, everywhere, all the time, should be able […]
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The War on Drugs isn’t Real
by Kierra Johnson If there was ever any proof that the war on drugs is not about drugs, it’s the latest numbers of marijuana arrests in Virginia. A Washington Post analysis revealed that even though marijuana has been legalized in the state, the majority of the people who are arrested for drug related charges are […]
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Get Ready for the General Assembly Session
By Ashleigh Crocker It’s December, so you might be drinking hot chocolate, decorating a tree, lighting a menorah, shopping til you drop, spending time with family, or marking the holiday season with your own special traditions. But for us at Progress Virginia, December means something else too: it’s time to get ready for the General […]
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Amanda Chase is not SAFE for Virginia … and we need to ACT fast.
by shay bell There’s nothing like waking up in the morning to a nice cup of tea, a good book, and news of extremely transphobic policies being proposed by Virginia Senators. Republican Senator Amanda Chase has just proposed a new ban on youth transition and I can’t even begin to describe how enraged I am. […]
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Kiggans Doesn’t Cut It
by Kimberly R. Nario While we’re all being bombarded with political ads of candidates repeating their best qualities in their most unassuming tones—while sometimes talking sh*t about their opponents—let me remind you of some things one candidate may have failed to mention in her ads. Jen Kiggans apparently has a problem saying President Biden won […]
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Same Day Voter Registration
It’s fall, y’all! And that means not only is it spooky season, but it’s also my personal favorite, election season. That’s right, it’s time to start thinking about who we are voting for and making our plans vote, if we haven’t already. One new thing we have in Virginia now is same-day voter registration. You […]
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Clover Power in Halifax, What’s the Deal?
by shay bell It’s been a minute since our last set of blogs, but I’m back this month with a bit of an attitude because I’m over white male greed. As I’m sure we’re all aware, Virginia is one of many states aiming to lower their carbon emissions this year in an attempt to combat […]
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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in Virginia’s New Budget
by Ashleigh Crocker On Friday, June 17, legislators came back to Richmond to debate Governor Glenn Youngkin’s amendments to the state budget. With the threat of a government shut down if they weren’t able to agree and pass something by July 1, legislators got down to business. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly […]
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Virginia Republicans Miss the Mark Again
It was sunny until it wasn’t. A group of us walked out of the theater building, laughing at something I can’t remember, when someone approached us and asked if we heard. Confusion set in. Then immediately we all started texting and making phone calls, checking on our people, trying to remember who had friends, boyfriends, […]
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Fed Up With What the GOP is Serving
I hope y’all are hungry because Virginia’s GOP is serving up a buffet of ridiculousness. We knew this session would be different – and difficult – without a trusted Democratic trifecta to lead the Commonwealth. So when it comes to the nonsense some GOP legislators are trying to push through the General Assembly, you can color us shocked, but NOT surprised.