Erin Waters, Basic Rights Oregon
Meet our newest Free Spirit, Erin Waters! As a member of the board at Basic Rights Oregon and Director of Equitable Programs & Services at Black & Beyond the Binary, she has committed herself to raising awareness and providing resources to better serve LGBTQ2SIA+ folks in the community. A particular focus for Erin is in supporting the Black Queer Community. Much of her service is in the scope of healthcare, with initiatives such as development of patient advisory councils, peer-based mentoring programs, and assisting in the establishment of community speech pathology programs. Erin has received acknowledgment for her work as a Queer Hero by the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest in 2019 and received the David J. Lawrence Community Service Award from Kaiser Permanente in 2020. We are so excited to feature Erin and raise a glass to the amazing impact she has made!
A portion of the proceeds from the sales of our Life's A Peach kits will go to Basic Rights Oregon.
Basic Rights Oregon works fearlessly and tirelessly to build a strong, vibrant, powerful, and progressive movement for LGBTQ2SIA+ equality. LGBTQ2SIA+ Oregonians exist in every community, and we understand that we have to engage in strategic, values-based coalitions to address the many needs of our communities.
They're working to ensure access to ALL gender-affirming care is covered through any health insurer in our state, including the Oregon Health Plan, engaging with communities across Oregon that are battling against racism, homophobia and transphobia in their school districts, and expanding the ability to provide valuable trainings about the queer and trans communities for Oregon workplaces, faith communities, school districts, and business partners.