Pride Month: The Fight for Queer Liberation and Workers
By Kaitlin
Happy pride month SEIU family! Click the link above to listen to “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Queen of Disco Sylvester, a visionary gay musician who left a lasting legacy of music and pride.
Dear Union Family,
“My right to be me is tied with a thousand threads to your right to be you.” Leslie Feinberg, Transgender Activist, Organizer, and self-proclaimed Revolutionary Communist
This month, we recognize that the fight for working-class equity and the fight for queer liberation have always been connected. Pride Month isn’t just a celebration; it’s a commemoration of resistance and a reminder that progress is won when people organize and fight back against injustice and discrimination together.
Our unions’ fight for working people is heavily influenced, inspired, and created by LGBTQ+ workers who organize, advocate, and fight for dignity on the job and in their communities. Their struggle reminds us that when working people stand together, we build the power needed to challenge injustice and create a more equitable future for everyone.
Because the fight is far from over.
This administration has made its intentions clear: anti-trans legislation, attacks on DEI, and actions stripping workplace protections are chipping away at hard-won rights. The threats are real. But so is our power. We are not standing by. We are standing together.
Join the SEIU Lavender Caucus for a “Labor of Love and Pride!”
Come kick off LGBTQ+ Pride Month with the SEIU Lavender Caucus! Join us for an evening of arts, crafts, food, and community as we celebrate Pride together.
Date: June 11, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Member Hall 1
Address: 2229 S Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60608
Join Us for a Summer Anti-Billionaire Bootcamp
Our SEIU International Union’s “Member Mobilization” Department is launching a summer “Anti-Billionaire Bootcamp” webinar series for members, leaders, and local staff. The series will cover an overview of fundamentals of anti-authoritarianism, methods of non-cooperation and resistance, skill-building for growing our leadership and recruiting others to join us, and our summer/fall corporate accountability calendar. Register at the links listed for each date above!
Immigrant Justice Work
Last week members took part in an action in Chicago calling on ICE to stop terrorizing our communities. We’ve seen an uptick in ICE aggression in and around our city in the past few weeks, so it’s important we keep fighting back to protect our neighbors!
Division Updates
Missouri: This August, Missouri voters will weigh in on two proposed amendments that will have major impacts on our democracy and the economy. Amendment 4 would change how citizen-led ballot measures are approved, stripping regular people of power and handing it to politicians and wealthy special interest groups. Amendment 5 would replace Missouri’s income tax with a broader sales tax system, a change that would shift more of the tax burden onto working families while benefiting the wealthiest Missourians. When a government rewrites the rules so that the majority can no longer change them, that is not democracy. That is the first step toward authoritarian control. Amendments 4 and 5 are not two separate ballot measures. They are two parts of the same strategy: take away the people’s power to change things, then transfer money from working people to the wealthy, while no one can stop them. Working people have shown time and time again that we won’t sit on the sidelines and are committed to beating these two Amendments!
Child Care: On May 29th, child care members and children took action with a lobby day at the Illinois State Capitol. Kids dressed as superheroes asked lawmakers to be heroes for working families by funding child care and taxing the rich. The message was clear: solve the child care crisis so we can protect providers, our families, and our communities.
Nursing Homes: Last week, nursing home workers at both Aperion Care Chicago Heights and MADO Uptown voted to ratify new contracts and won increased wages across the board! This is Aperion Care Chicago Heights’ first union contract and came after a hard-fought campaign that included legal action. Thanks to workers staying resilient and united, we now have a 2-year contract with increased benefits and union protections. At MADO, in addition to increased wages, members came together to fight for and win Juneteenth as a holiday, bereavement time, and more.
Health Systems: Our hospital members fought hard, and thanks to the petitions we signed, postcards we delivered, and subject matter hearings we testified at, we made sure that safety net hospitals received some funding—but our safety nets deserve more, and we will continue to fight to make sure our community hospitals are fully funded. We are ready to make sure that our hospitals receive every dollar of the grants they deserve, and we will continue fighting for our workers’ dignity at the bargaining table.
Additional Resources
- Want to learn more about the history of Pride Month? Check out Stonewall Forever, a documentary from NYC’s LGBT Community Center that brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. Stonewall Forever brings together queer activists, experienced and new, to look at the movement for LGBTQ equality before, during and after Stonewall.
- Do you know what to do if you’re being harassed in the workplace due to your gender or sexuality? If you are facing harassment or discrimination, make sure to take these steps:
- o Contact your union steward to report the harassment or discrimination
- OR call our member resource center to make a report at 866-933-7348
As we celebrate Pride Month, let us remember that the fight for queer liberation and the fight for workers’ rights are deeply connected. Both are rooted in the belief that every person deserves dignity, respect, and a voice in shaping their future.
Let’s continue to fight back together!
In Solidarity,
G. Stephen Voltz
Home Care worker & SEIU HCII Lavender Caucus Chairman