New Orleanians come out against anti-LGBTQ+ bigot Jeff Landry

Feb. 12 — Two actions were held in New Orleans against the latest attacks on LGBTQ+ people and other oppressed workers. These attacks locally are being spearheaded by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry — who is running for governor — but the attacks are nationally coordinated and have been blessed by Trump.

Landry met with other Republican attorneys general in the “Forbes Travel Guide verified luxury” Roosevelt Hotel. Down on the street, the Louisiana Abortion Rights Actions Committee (LARAC) held a news conference to expose oil profiteer Landry, who has used his office to block Medicaid expansion, limit abortion rights, and much more. His gubernatorial campaign comes from the playbook of David Duke, who was rejected by Louisiana voters in 1992. Currently, Landry is stoking hatred against queer and trans people with attempted library book bans.

Those who spoke and gathered at the LARAC press conference represent the diversity of South Louisiana: Black, white, immigrant, non-immigrant — all coming from the multinational working class. By contrast, when Landry recently appeared in the Legislature with the astroturf “concerned parents” group the St. Tammany Parish Library Accountability Project — which is allied with Republican Party organizations — everyone who stood at the podium with him was white.

LARAC is building toward a March 5 International Working Women’s Day Emergency March.

Members of the trans rights organization Real Name Campaign NOLA participated in the news conference and then led the crowd in a militant march. Their flyer read, “Stop Landry’s Book Ban!”

With chants like “2,4,6,8, stop the book bans in our state,” they took over part of busy Canal Street. This is significant given that crowds were gearing up for a Mardi Gras parade on the street (Mardi Gras and other tourism are a backbone of the city’s economy). They ended their march at the main library branch in the Central Business District.