The National Committee (NC) of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS), described in bylaws as the party’s “final decision-making body,” has accredited the Unified Green Party of Georgia (UGPGA) as the GPUS affiliate in the Peach State. All but three of the 103 participating NC members voted to accept the proposal for certification the GPUS Accreditation Committee (AC) crafted.
This is the first state Green Party to earn official recognition from the NC since October 2023, when the committee approved the South Dakota Green Party’s request for accreditation. That chapter was placed on “temporary inactive status” in May of this year, though, because they had left their seats on the NC vacant, which could have prevented the committee from reaching their quorum.
Until July 2021, the Georgia Green Party (GAGP) was the official GPUS affiliate in that state. But the NC voted overwhelmingly to rescind its accreditation after the party enshrined support for the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights in its platform at its February 2020 convention and consequently drew condemnation from other Greens as transphobic. This was one of multiple objections cited in a formal complaint the National Lavender Greens Caucus (NLGC), an association of sexual and gender minorities in the GPUS, filed with the AC and in the AC proposal for decertification.
However, that proposal charged the GAGP tried to go over the heads of their membership by not publicizing their convention on Facebook ahead of time when, in fact, they had. In addition, it quoted the party’s earliest bylaws to point out the convention body, not its Coordinating Council, could pass platform amendments, but it claimed many, if not all, of the attendees of the February 2020 convention held positions on the Coordinating Council. Furthermore, the NLGC complaint relied on an overly broad reading of the Supreme Court’s verdict in Bostock v. Clayton County, which largely ruled against discrimination of sexual and gender minorities in employment, to allege the GAGP was “in violation of Federal Law” through another anti-transgender amendment ratified. (Notably, the party does accept at least some employment protections.) Nevertheless, the GAGP no longer belongs to the national party, but it remains operational.
In a written interview with the AC included in the proposal for accreditation, UGPGA leaders spoke to the transphobia row and their goal of stopping anti-trans GAGP members from taking control of the UGPGA, with Jake Schenberg stating they “agree with the importance of maintaining a Georgia Green party which is in line with the national party’s platform.” (Yet they conceded they did not have a plan to realize this at that time.) Likewise, Travis Wathen, the chair of the UGPGA and one of the directors for Savannah’s First City Pride Center, promised he “can guarantee all inclusion of everyone.”
The UGPGA proposal also featured a letter from Schenberg to the GPUS Secretary addressing the ten criteria for certification from the national party, plus their own bylaws and a platform that simply presents the framework for all green political parties – the Four Pillars and the Ten Key Values – as worded by the GPUS. Their Facebook page comprises press releases that offer more detailed policy suggestions related to Georgia politics, such as sexual and gender minority student life at Georgia Southern University.
Independent Political Report contacted representatives from the UGPGA and the GAGP for comment on the NC vote, but they did not respond.
In case there is any confusion, I want it to be known that, while I found and noted flaws in the NLGC complaint, I am in full support of the dignity and rights of trans people, from basic anti-discrimination protections to complete access to gender-affirming care – a position rooted in firsthand knowledge of trans people and in science.
i read your blog post before the rest of your comments here, gadfly. i dont know how much your understanding of trans and queer life has changed, but im happy to see you disagree with bioessentialism. 🙂
Travis Wathen, the chair of the UGPGA and one of the directors for Savannah’s First City Pride Center, promised he “can guarantee all inclusion of everyone.” … by excluding whoever he and his cronies label/libel “anti-trans GAGP members”.
Inclusion of everyone through exclusion of those we don’t like. Diversity of everything except opinions. Equity of what we approve of and nothing else.
How very Green.
At the same time, both transsexual and transgender persons have legal and civil rights, and I part ways with much of the “essentialism” of gender-critical radical feminists, as well as many of THEIR fellow travelers, sources of support, etc. They in general, and much of the leadership of the GaGP, hung out with a lot of big-time wingnuts https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2021/06/gcrfs-vs-lc-pox-on-both-houses-within.html
I had run-ins with several on Twitter and was also shadowbanned from what was then the official GPUS Facebook group. Even before the shadowbanning, there was comment censorship https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2020/05/green-party-and-facebook-censorship.html
Ahh, yes. the whole entire 2021 stinkaroo over the Georgia Green Party led me to saying a pox on both their houses. It’s when I lost interest in the GP.
To summarize? Sex is not gender, and I’ve also read what places like the Mayo Clinic have said about when puberty blockers are indicated — and when they’re contraindicated. Lavender Greens and fellow travelers have not. https://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2020/07/green-party-cracking-up-over.html (Posting multiple comments to avoid getting caught in moderation, and hoping this posts, as it didn’t show the first time. )