Hi! I'm Margaret.

I’m a communications professional with a background in organizing. I work with advocacy organizations in the LGBTQ+ movement and beyond to communicate their work clearly, queerly, and strategically to a range of audiences.I believe in the power of liberatory grassroots action, and I love making sure people know about the important work organizations are doing with compelling and easy-to-read social media graphics, emails, print and digital materials, and more. My content inspires action, whether that’s signing up for events and programming, clicking on an action alert, or making a donation.

Graphics & Social Media

Pleasure Pie – Gazan Family Rescue Fund

I designed this graphic based on specifications and copy provided by Pleasure Pie’s founder to support the organization’s fundraiser for Gazan sex educator Mohammed Alkrunz. The graphic was crafted to fit Pleasure Pie’s down-to-earth aesthetic and share Mohammed’s latest GoFundMe update in a digestible, action-oriented way.

Caption:

Thank you to everyone who has donated! We’ve raised almost $25,000 to help our friend Mohammed and his family get to safety. Mohammed is a sex educator in Gaza who we’ve been collaborating with for six years. You can read more about him and support him on our GoFundMe (link in bio, and below).https://www.gofundme.com/f/gazan-family-rescue-fundAlso, a HUGE thank you to @jpforpalestine for helping us fundraise! ❤️

Save the Democracy Center – Campaign Update

I designed this graphic to accompany copy provided by Save the Democracy Center organizers. The graphic is crafted to maintain brand consistency while updating the look.

Caption:

We continue to demand an indefinite pause of the harmful decision to close the Democracy Center on July 1.————The Democracy Center Advisory Council, a group formed to represent and advocate for the survival of the DC community, has repeatedly communicated our willingness to meet with FCL over the past 6 weeks.FCL president Ian Simmons has failed to engage with the Democracy Center Advisory Council. Despite a lifetime of advocacy for social change going back to his student days, Ian's actions so far signal he is fine with the erasure of our community.————


We continue to ask Ian Simmons to have a good faith discussion and negotiation with the Democracy Center Advisory Council ahead of the announced closure date of July 1.
He has all the resources necessary to move forward in a way that is more supportive of our community. There is no need to move on such an aggressive timeline, and doing so will be disruptive of critical organizing infrastructure at a time when we could be headed for a second Trump presidency.—————We hung this Save the Democracy Center banner as a symbol of our resistance and our resilience as a community. We invite everyone to take action at tinyurl.com/demcenteraction.The Democracy Center is #2Essential2BErased #SaveTheCambridgeDC

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality – Scholarship Announcement

One of a series of promotional conference posts, I wrote the copy and designed the graphic to fit with existing GLMA Annual Conference branding while making it more appealing to a young queer and trans audience.

Caption:

We're committed to ensuring that students from across the health professions can attend the GLMA Annual Conference in San Francisco. We’re able to provide a limited number of scholarships to help offset the cost of attending.The application is now open—apply today at glma.org/conference/students!

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality – Statement on Youth Gender-Affirming Care in Florida

I drafted this rapid-response statement and created this graphic for GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality. The graphic’s color scheme and aesthetic needed to balance GLMA’s reputation as an advocacy organization trusted by queer and trans communities, and as a reputable healthcare professional association. This was the fifth most-liked post on GLMA’s page that year.

Caption:

Today, the Florida Department of Health issued non-binding guidance opposing science-based gender-affirming care for youth. The guidance goes so far as to suggest that social transition should not be considered a valid treatment option for youth.Just last year, GLMA made the decision to pull our conference out of Florida after Governor DeSantis signed a law effectively banning transgender girls from playing sports. We see this new guidance for what it is: another scientifically baseless attack on the state’s most vulnerable kids.Our full statement: bit.ly/floridastatement

Lesbian Health Fund – New Year's 2022

Made to fit Lesbian Health Fund branding guidelines, I created this post and copy as part of an effort I led to increase LHF’s post frequency.

Caption:

Happy New Year from the LHF team! In 2022, we'll keep building a world where all LGBTQ+ women and girls have access to caring healthcare based on trusted scientific research.

Unmasking Fidelity – Campaign Relaunch

I created this graphic for an email blast written by Muslim Justice League to the Unmasking Fidelity list announcing its campaign relaunch in 2021.

Email Content:

If you're receiving this email, you signed a petition or joined an event held by the #UnmaskingFidelity Coalition. We know it's been a while, but we're excited to relaunch the Unmasking Fidelity campaign with new demands and broader visions for justice: DISCLOSE, DIVEST and REPAIR!We invite you to join us on Tuesday, August 24, 2021 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM ET to:

  • Learn about how Fidelity Charitable is funding white supremacist and fascist violence.

  • Hear about the ways our campaign has changed and developed, and dig into the campaign's powerful demands and visions.

  • Join working groups and take action in coming weeks and months in support of Unmasking Fidelity.

To refresh your memory, Fidelity Charitable funnels millions of dollars through Donor Advised Funds to white supremacist, anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant organizations.#FidelityFact: The founder of the far-right group Turning Point USA bragged about sending 80 buses of Trump supporters to Washington, DC for the insurrection at the Capitol in a tweet he has since deleted. According to tax filings from 2017 and 2018, Fidelity Charitable funneled more than $700,000 in donations to Turning Point USA in just the first two years that Trump was in office.

Press

Press release that I drafted and formatted for the grassroots Save the Democracy Center campaign.

Letter to the Cambridge Day which I drafted and placed for disability justice advocate Oliver Wilson with the Save the Democracy Center campaign.

Letter to the Daily Press from a wedding photographer in a key Senate district for Equality Virginia’s campaign to pass trans-inclusive nondiscrimination protections. I worked with her on this letter and helped her place it.

Web Content

I curated existing assets to make this toolkit for Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for the grassroots campaign to save the Cambridge Democracy Center from closure by a multimillionaire.

I researched and coauthored this issue brief with Kellan Baker for publication to the Center for American Progress website. This issue brief has been cited by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in the Williams Institute report How Many Adults Identify as Transgender in the United States?, and in the Fenway Institute/Boston Indicators report Equality and Equity: Advancing the LGBT Community in Massachusetts.

I wrote the introduction to this interview for publication on the Center for American Progress website to mark the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Emails

I drafted this email to promote Pleasure Pie’s workshops to a list of people who had previously expressed interest in Pleasure Pie education programming. Aimed at capturing Pleasure Pie’s approachable tone, it had a 33% open rate, 18.5% click-through rate, and 1.6% conversion rate.

Help a Black Trans Family Stay Housed – Monthly Donor Appeal

I wrote this email for an informal collective of organizers to send to a progressive fundraising listserv as part of the launch of a monthly donor program for a chosen family of Black trans youth facing housing instability. The email raised $5,730 in one-time and recurring donations.

Thanks to you, we were able to raise enough funds to allow a Black trans family to reach a favorable agreement with their landlord following their eviction court date!

54 people - members of Resource Generation (Boston, Chicago, and LA chapters) and of SURJ Boston, friends, activist colleagues, friends of friends, friends of colleagues - contributed to raise over $20,745 for this eviction defense fund. Collectively we were able to keep 5 young people living as chosen family TOGETHER AND HOUSED! I'm relieved, inspired, and so grateful to you.

Now we are raising monthly rent to help them achieve some housing stability after this crisis. Our goal is to cover $2,890/month (their rent) for the 5 months left on their lease starting with April. They don’t want to get evicted again while they look for employment following months of crisis! Thanks to 5 donors, we’re already almost 25% of the way there. Two ways you can help:

[Urgent] help pay their April rent! Venmo me, Paypal me, or write me a check (email me for details) by April 15.

Pledge monthly support for their rent: bit.ly/lgbtqrentpledge

Feel free to contact me or Skyler if you have any questions or want to talk further.

Appreciation & solidarity,

- The fundraising crew: Margaret (any pronouns), Skyler (he/they), and Ngakay (they/them)

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality – Action Alert

I wrote, formatted, and scheduled this email for GLMA's Arkansas email list. It was designed to make it easy for GLMA members to call their legislators about gender-affirming healthcare in Arkansas, while working within the constraints of GLMA’s existing resources, which didn’t include automated call tools.

Action Alert: Trans Youth in AR Are Under Attack

Tell Gov. Hutchinson Healthcare Professionals Oppose Anti-Trans Bills

Arkansas has just become the first state in the country to pass a ban on healthcare access for trans youth. This bill, which would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming treatment like hormone therapy or puberty blockers to youth under 18, is headed to the desk of Governor Asa Hutchinson to be signed into law.

As health professionals, we cannot let this happen. We must raise our voices loud and clear in opposition.

Call Gov. Hutchinson today at 501-682-2345 and leave a short message like this, telling him to veto HB 1570 as well as SB 354, which would ban trans students from school sports:

Hi, my name is [your name] and I live in [your city/town], Arkansas. As a [healthcare professional—state your discipline here], I am deeply concerned about HB 1570 and SB 354.

Please veto HB 1570 and SB 354. Thank you.

Don’t wait - call Gov. Hutchinson’s office today at 501-682-2345.

Once you’ve called, email Gov. Hutchinson at [email protected] with a message like this:

Dear Governor Hutchinson,

I am a [licensed clinical social worker, pediatrician, nurse practitioner, PA student, health professional, etc.] and an Arkansan living in [your city/town]. I urge you to veto HB 1570 and SB 354.

As a healthcare professional, I am deeply concerned by these bills, which are at odds with best practices. [If you can, share a sentence or two about why you personally oppose bills discriminating against trans youth in healthcare and sports]. This legislation goes against the protocols recommended by leading healthcare professional associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society, and GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality. Please veto these medically and scientifically unsubstantiated bills, which are nothing less than attacks on the health and lives of our Arkansas youth.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Click here when you’re done to let us know you’ve taken action!

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality – Donation Appeal

I wrote, formatted, and scheduled this email to GLMA’s email list to inspire donations to GLMA’s newly launched Amplify Fund for Indigenous queer, BIPOC trans, intersex, and im/migrant conference speakers. This was part of my multi-year comms work on the Amplify Fund as it went from a pilot to a fully-fledged program.

Announcing the GLMA Amplify Fund, our Priority Content Sponsorship Program

After the success of last year’s pilot program in bringing underrepresented content from historically excluded communities to GLMA, we are making the program a permanent feature of GLMA’s annual conference. But we need your help.

The GLMA Amplify Fund directly compensates speakers who have been underrepresented in healthcare conversations, speaking on Indigiqueer, intersex, migrant, refugee and BIPOC trans health.

Too often, marginalized people are not compensated for their time and contributions. If we’re going to spotlight these expert voices in the field of LGBTQ health, we need to change that. That’s why your donation to the GLMA Amplify Fund goes entirely and directly to speakers. Period.

Will you join me in donating to the GLMA Amplify Fund today?

As we plan for #GLMA2022, I’m committed to supporting the time and expertise of historically excluded speakers from priority content areas including Indigenous LGBTQIA+, Two Spirit, and Indigiqueer health, BIPOC trans health, intersex health, and LGBTQIA+ newcomer, refugee, and migrant health. Donate today, and help open up a much-needed platform to speakers who might not otherwise be able to present at GLMA’s historic 40th Annual Conference.

© 2024 Margaret C. Hughes