On Feb. 28, people across the U.S. participated in a 24 hour economic blackout to protest President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting transgender people and banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal government. The idea is to spend nothing and send a message to Big Business.
During his second administration, Trump has escalated his attacks on particularly vulnerable populations in the US and abroad. Many children who were dependent on USAID for food could die as Trump has made Elon Musk, accountable to no one with free rein to gut USAID as a cost-cutting measure, despite its being a mere fraction of the federal budget.
Trump’s executive orders targeting transgender persons have banned their participation in the military; banned participation of trans women in women’s sports and restricted eligibility for participation to those assigned female at birth; banned gender-affirming health care for youth under 19; restricted the definition of sex to one’s reproductive organs at birth; banned the use of the term gender or gender identity across federal agencies; and banned sex marker changes on government-issued identity documents including passports and social security cards.
The scope of these bans will not only affect access to a wide range of services and opportunities that many take for granted but will also deleteriously affect the physical and mental health of trans persons. Besides illustrating a disregard of science and widely accepted medical and behavioral health practice, Trump’s orders demonstrate a profound animus towards trans people and an attempt to scapegoat and systematically erase their existence in the U.S.
Simultaneously, the rollback of DEI initiatives by large corporations, many of which were initiated or enhanced following George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020, has demonstrated the companies’ shallow commitment to helping eradicate the conditions that have produced inequity and police misconduct. We assert that large corporations are abdicating their power to influence federal decisions that can result in a country that is safe and welcoming to all of its citizens.
Our participation in the 24-Hour Economic Boycott acknowledges the undue influence that Big Business has on the Trump administration and Congress. As everyday people, we are not powerless to bring about change through the discretionary use of our purchasing power.
We, therefore call on Big Business to use its influence with the Trump administration and Congress to achieve the following:
1. Close the Department of Government Efficiency and end Elon Musk’s quasi-official involvement in all decisions related to the functioning of the U.S. federal government.
2. Reopen USAID, including restoring funding, staffing, services, and materials at sufficient levels to achieve USAID’s stated mission.
3. Rescind the decision that placed the EPA’s diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility employees and environmental justice employees on leave and restore the EPA’s environmental justice programs.
4. Rehire all probationary federal workers and those forced to resign.
5. Reinstitute the Department of Homeland Security’s “2021 Guidelines for Enforcement Actions in or Near Protected Areas” that limited the places (e.g., hospitals, schools, and churches) where ICE raids could be conducted.
6. Rescind the attempt to end birthright citizenship affecting the children of immigrants, Native and Indigenous persons, and many others.
7. Rescind all orders that attempt to erase trans people from public life, including those a) banning the enlistment of trans service members in the military and providing gender-affirming healthcare; b) banning gender-affirming healthcare for youth under 19; c) banning sex marker changes on federal government-issued identification documents; and, d) banning the participation of trans women in women’s sports.
8. Reject pseudo-science and restore the definitions of sex and gender in alignment with accepted, rigorously reviewed science, while reinstating the use of the word “gender” on all federal agency websites, policies, codes, and procedures.
9. Identify a qualified individual, chosen through a peer-juried process, to chair the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center.
10. Rescind the Dear Colleague Letter that demands all colleges and universities to discontinue and eliminate any DEI-related initiatives, as it is an overreach of the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning the use of affirmative action in college admissions.
Until significant progress has been made on these demands, we will continue our economic boycott of key businesses.
Art Glover, George Ware, and Darin Stewart are heads of Denver’s 24-Hour Economic Blackout.
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Originally Published: February 28, 2025 at 1:08 PM MST
