This morning Senator Al Franken announced his resignation. Senator Franken has proven himself to be a champion of progressive values and a voice of the people, however if even one woman feels unsafe, the atmosphere must be changed and believe Senator Franken stepping down was the right move.

Sexual harassment is never okay. We support the silence breakers who are sharing their experiences, no matter what. We live in a patriarchal-misogynistic society that has normalized and trivialized sexual harassment, assault and abuse for too long. As we’ve seen with the recent reckoning, sexual harassment is not a partisan issue, but rather an issue of power and oppression. We must demand more from ALL of our elected officials, on both sides of the aisle. This starts with the president himself who has been accused of sexual assault on multiple occasions and other elected officials and those running for office, like Roy Moore. We demand they be held to the same standards and investigations as Senator Franken, and frankly, we’d like them to do the right thing and resign as well.

As we turn our attention to the days and weeks to come, we call on Governor Mark Dayton to fill the open seat with a representative who champions progressive principles, helping us work toward a society in which all women — Black, Brown, Native, poor, immigrant, Muslim, queer, trans — are free and able to care for their families in safe and healthy environments free from undue barriers. We strongly urge Governor Dayton to consider a female representative for this position. 

Additionally, we call on you to keep fighting, keep writing and calling your members of congress, keep showing up — our future depends on it!