The Cobra Lily Manifesto
The Cobra Lily Collective is a grassroots mutual aid group created for trans, genderqueer, and questioning folks in the Upper Valley who understand that liberation doesn’t come from above, it comes from each other. We are a community that comes together to survive, organize, celebrate one another, and fight for what is ours.
As members of this community, we respect and hold space for each other. We don’t discount ourselves or others, because we understand we all have a part to play in making each other heard, loved, and safe. We assume good intent, we encourage each other’s leadership, and we give each other ample time to express ourselves.
Everyone has something to give. Whether it’s advice, a ride, makeup lessons, a bowl of soup, or a safe place to stay, we will show up for each other, and we won’t be afraid to ask for the help we need.
When we say we’re all leaders, we don’t mean hierarchy, we mean direct democracy. We mean recognizing every person’s innate agency and their ability to organize and get things done. We work together as a community to divide our labor and make decisions about the collective. We keep those decisions transparent, we document our discussions, and we keep that documentation secure.
We are prepared to evolve to meet our community’s needs, and this manifesto is a living document for us to amend and rewrite and expand as needed.
We are not the gender police. Our space is open to anyone who feels they can get something from our care. We’re here to support each other, but we’re not here to debate our transness or educate anyone else on what it means. There are other forums for that.
NO cops and NO courts. We keep each other safe. We understand being in this space is vulnerable and we guard each other’s privacy. We don’t make assumptions about who’s out or what’s okay to disclose outside the space without permission.
Community means no one is disposable, and safety means having the space to make mistakes. If anyone gets hurt, we will bring those accountable into a restorative circle with their peers to figure out how to move forward, with the input and presence of those hurt if desired, and a trained outside mediator if needed.
We know the fight for liberation is messy and we’ll sometimes get things wrong. We’re here to help each other learn and grow when we fuck up, because community isn’t a destination that we reach, it’s a living thing that needs sustenance. We know that our fight is only as strong as the relationships we build and nourish here, so that when the state moves to crush us, we can respond with the fierceness of our love.
Like the cobra lily, we are beautiful and dangerous. We absorb what is trying to kill us and we break it down. Within the alchemical magic of our being, the world is transformed, one act of defiant care at a time.