Stephanie's Democracy Defenders

I Give Because Change Is Possible

When I moved back home to Kentucky last year, I wanted to do more than just settle back in. I wanted to find my place in the community again. I wanted to connect with people doing work I believed in, use my own experiences in a meaningful way, and be part of making Kentucky a place where more people can live with dignity, freedom, and opportunity. Joining the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Kentucky felt like a natural place to do that.

Over the past year, I've gotten an even closer look at what this organization does, and I've become even more convinced that the ACLU is an organization we can trust to show up when our rights and freedoms are threatened.

ACLU-KY is having a real impact, every day, across the Commonwealth.

Just in the past year, the ACLU of Kentucky has:

• Protected Kentucky voters and their privacy, helping defeat a federal effort to obtain the sensitive personal information of Kentucky voters.
• Defended free speech, winning a court order allowing a Letcher County mother who had been banned from her children's school property to return while her First Amendment case continues.
• Defended freedom of the press, securing the dismissal of charges against a journalist arrested while covering a protest in Northern Kentucky.
• Fought for the right to protest without police violence, reaching a settlement on behalf of peaceful racial justice protesters subjected to excessive force by Louisville police.
• Continued fighting for voting rights, racial justice, reproductive freedom, immigrants' rights, free speech, and a more just criminal legal system across Kentucky.

These aren't abstract issues. They're real issues affecting everyday Kentuckians like you and me. They impact who gets protected, who gets to participate in our democracy, and whether our institutions can be held accountable when they cause harm.

This is what protecting civil liberties looks like: showing up, pushing back, and standing alongside people whose rights are at risk.

That's why I give.

I give because rights only mean something if we're willing to defend them.

I give because Kentucky needs organizations willing to challenge injustice even when it's difficult or unpopular.

I give because the ACLU doesn't just talk about change. They fight for it—in courtrooms, at the legislature, and alongside communities across the Commonwealth.

But maybe most importantly, I give because this work gives me hope.

Hope that we aren't powerless. Hope that people can make a difference. Hope that institutions can be held accountable. And hope that when enough of us choose to show up, speak out, and invest in the communities we want to see, change really is possible.

I'm asking you to join me.

Your gift helps make this work possible. Whether it's $10, $25, $50, $100, or more, you're helping ensure there is someone ready to show up and fight when our rights are threatened.

Will you make a gift today?

Because change is possible, and all of us have a role to play in making it happen.