This month we celebrate what our community has achieved over the years to give us greater visibility. Our accomplishments include decriminalizing homosexuality, asserting our right to dress as we please and to freely express our gender identity, and to not be bound by conventional expectations around gender and gender expression with regards to attire, hairstyles, and other adornments, de-categorizing homosexuality as a mental illness, same-sex marriage rights, and the ability to name ourselves as we see fit.

These accomplishments are beacons of light shining on the hard work we undertook to attain them. We're still facing many challenges in our efforts to obtain full civil rights. Our youth in schools are being denied the use of the restrooms they need. People are forced to leave their family homes because of their sexual orientation or because their gender is not what was assigned at birth. Elders in our community aren't having their medical needs met and many face discrimination in nursing homes.

These injustices aren't only taking place in the United States. Throughout the world, members of our community are forced to remain silent or they will be put to death by their government -- which is not enough to qualify for asylum in the United States. We still have a long road to travel.

The road is even more difficult because only two major parties have control at every level of government and they maintain ties to every institution that hold power over the lives of people in the LGBTQIA+ community.

The Lavender Green Caucus fights for LGBTQIA+ rights at the grassroots level with the national Green Party's full support. Our members and associates organize in communities and are involved in statewide efforts to address issues that affect all oppressed minorities. Our struggle isn't isolated. It intersects with the struggle for immigrants' rights, indigenous rights, racism, sexism, ableism, economic and environmental justice -- which are only a few of the many issues that inform our struggle for full participation in society.

We have so much more to accomplish and celebrate with your help. Join the Lavender Green Caucus and we will support you as you bring together other LGBTQIA+ people to work for full human rights in your community, and as you work to elect candidates who will represent us in public office.

Additional information about the Lavender Green caucus can be found here.