Dear Keep The Promise Coalition community,

 

Like many of you, we are holding the tremendous grief and loss being felt by our queer and Trans, Black and Brown, birthing, Muslim, poor, disabled, immigrant, unhoused and other communities who will be harmed by the results of this week’s election, and the rise of this most recent brand of American fascism.

We also know what four years of a Trump presidency has done to our movement. In his previous term, the Trump administration slashed funding for Medicaid and Medicare, SAMHSA and peer run services, and took an even more pathologizing and carceral position on mental health.

It is important to acknowledge that in many ways, this result is consistent with America’s history of white supremacy, colonialism, and genocide. We understand the objections of the diverse Palestinian liberation movement to both major party candidates, and while many held principled objections to both major party candidate’s policy stances, we understand the hurt that many are feeling due to this result, regardless of how or whether or not they voted.

Right now, it is absolutely critical that we continue to organize to resist the forces of fascism, colonialism, white supremacy, transphobia, xenophobia, misogyny, zionism and other forms of systemic oppression, and build community and solidarity across marginalized peoples. KTP will continue to organize and build power for racial and social justice in Connecticut’s mental health system and beyond, and resist service and benefits funding cuts, ableism, and other oppressive policies that stand to be brought on through this election. We remain committed to fighting especially against white supremacy, transphobia, xenophobia and other hate movements that fueled this result. We also encourage folks who are feeling distressed by this result and looking to engage in community to continue to lean into the necessary fight for liberation.

We have also seen several messages on social media echoing pathologizing, disempowering clinical language around peoples’ understandable distress at these election results. We want to reaffirm as mad and disabled people that staying sober or abstinent from a certain coping strategy (especially right now) does not determine your worth. If you have drank, used, self-injured, or something else in the past few days, we want to reaffirm that, contrary to the messages you may be hearing, you have not thrown years, months, or weeks of abstinence out the window or down the drain. If you want to stay sober or abstinent you still can be. If you don’t want to be, there are other ways than just abstinence. It’s possible to have a different relationship with these coping strategies than you did before. We understand why you might not want to, given these results. This is the purpose of harm reduction.

With that said, we hope that you will do what is necessary to take care of yourselves and check in with your communities. Below, we have compiled a list of phone and group-based supports which folks can take advantage of. They will not call the police or crisis services.

Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line:
7pm to 9pm ET Mon-Thurs, 7pm-10pm ET Fri-Sun| 888-407-4515

Trans Lifeline:
1 PM – 9 PM ET every day| 877-565-8860

Inara Helpline for Queer and Trans Muslims:
6PM CT – 12AM ET Fri-Sat | 71-QTM-INARA

Wildflower Alliance Online Groups
(Including Alternatives to Suicide and LGBTQ+ support groups)
wildfloweralliance.org/online-support-groups/

Toivo Alternatives to Suicide Groups
toivocenter.org/alternatives-to-suicide/

 

In solidarity,

Jordan Fairchild
Executive Director,
Keep The Promise Coalition