Tony (they/them)

Tony, who prefers they/them pronouns because they resist the gender binary, is houseless, disabled, and works unstintingly for immigrant and racial justice. They first showed up in Portland during the Occupy ICE camp in June, 2018, and they were upbeat, optimistic, and in love with everyone in the camp. They told me it was the first time in their life they felt part of such a warmly-connected, supportive community. Since the camp was swept at the end of July, 2018, Tony has been couch-surfing, occasionally living on the street, looking for ways to survive and at the same time to be of use.

This morning there was a small rally and gathering to support Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who was verbally assaulted by neo-fascists at their rally on the weekend, and who might have been physically harmed had not a number of anti-fascists been nearby, staging a counter-protest. They surrounded JoAnn and escorted her to her car while the right-wingers shouted, "Die, bitch," and worse. As Jo Ann left the area, they threatened to show up at today's meeting, so a number of us were there to meet them and to show our solidarity with Jo Ann.

The fascists did not show up while I was there, but I left after about an hour and a half, and sometime around noon one of their leaders did show up at City Hall. Tony and a small group of activists used their bodies to block him from entering City Hall to harass Jo Ann. While that went on, security forces locked the doors to City Hall but did not come outside to question or arrest the person who was threatening Jo Ann. I later saw the video of Tony in action and was moved by their courage and persistence as they refused to move their body away from the doors the fascist was trying to enter, despite threats of violence. Interestingly, police were nowhere to be seen.

Jo Ann has, as part of her governance portfolio, the Fire and Rescue department, but the police are not under her supervision and are none too eager to defend her. Unarmed but courageous "community security" was, in this case, more reliable.