After the Election, Our Marching Orders: Statement from Executive Director Noreen Farrell

A statement from Noreen Farrell, Executive Director

We are devastated, pained, and infuriated by the misogyny, racism, and xenophobia that marked the Presidential campaign and guided the outcome at the polls. On a day we hoped for broken barriers, we have broken hearts. We fear for our community and our loved ones because we understand with devastating clarity that this is not about just one man, but about all those who believe in him.

We stand strong knowing that Election Day is not the end. It is our beginning. It is our call to action. We must move forward clear-headed, organized, and relentless. We know the attacks detailed in Project 2025, a far right-wing Heritage Foundation manifesto, are coming. We know that civil and human rights, abortion, privacy, and transgender rights are at risk and that mass deportation and classroom censorship are planned, because they told us.

Project 2025 is Donald Trump’s marching orders. What are ours?

Women and people across genders want an equal opportunity to be educated and advance at work, safety from violence, and support for our families. We want affordable, quality childcare and healthcare, including abortions. For our transgender children, we want safety from the mobs, assaults, and vitriol. We expect the Courts, Congress, and state legislatures to be a check on the power of those misogynists attacking the healthcare of women, others intent on dismantling federal agencies critical to protecting our rights, and autocrats eager to use military force to even a score against the so-called “enemy from within.” 

“The path to justice has never been straight or easy. Equal Rights Advocates was built for moments like this. We have a plan…”

The policies we care about and important checks in a democracy did not lose on Election Day.  Our shared needs and values remain intact, and ready for action. Each and every one of us, reaching out to likely and unlikely allies and listening to the pain and the hope that led to Election Day 2024, must commit and recommit to our movement. It will require deep engagement in Congress without the support of government agencies. It demands pushing progressive reforms in the states both legislatively and through executive action with like-minded Governors. It calls for impact litigation in state and federal courts to defend longstanding rights and stop unlawful repression in our communities.

With your help, we can do this. Investing in Equal Rights Advocates and movement work will be more important than ever. With this Election, our work has become exponentially more challenging and expensive. We need to immediately expand and strengthen our reach, grow our coalitions, and ready the defense of our lives. We intend to boost state policy work, guard our federal agencies, support litigation against unlawful executive action, and intensify our direct advocacy for communities under threat. We are growing the ERA team and strengthening our coalitions across the nation.  

The path to justice has never been straight or easy. Equal Rights Advocates was built for moments like this. We have a plan, we are building power with our partners, and we will raise the money we need. We are ready. Thank you for standing with us and with our communities, who are giving us OUR marching orders. 

I close with the words of the incredible anti-poverty advocate Michael Tubbs whose tweet last night helped me today. He said, “We have to prepare, not panic. Despair is a luxury.” Together, we will continue fighting until each one of us can live in this country with dignity and justice.