Julia Heilrayne: Powerhouse Activist
By: Reem Sabha
Tags: Activism, Gun Control, Youth Activism, Accessibility, Reproductive Justice

Julia Heilrayne is a youth activist from Austin, TX who is involved in multiple causes, including reproductive justice, gun control, and accessibility.

Why did you decide to get involved in activism to begin with?

I think in general, its just the way I was raised. My parents raised me to stand up for what I believe in. My mom has been really involved in some movements, like abortion rights, so it was very natural for me to be involved in those things.

How is organizing in Texas different than organizing in a blue state?

I live in Austin, which many people will tell you is a blue dot in a red sea. In some ways it makes it easier but in some ways its not. In Texas in general, I get a lot of pushback from people. In Austin, we give ourselves credit for being incredibly progressive and diverse, and calling ourselves out on our bullshit can be difficult

For example, in terms of gun control, we are pretty in favor of stricter gun laws in Austin, but with respect to racial issues, we are a very white city, we are a very segregated city, and we ignore that. We are also an old city, and we are not accessible. So when I talk about disability and accessibility, people struggle to be corrected because we think we’re so good at it all.

What challenges have you faced as a youth activist?

There’s the classic “the adults won’t listen to me thing” and I have faced that more times than I can count, adults discounting my opinions, adults saying “be quiet”. One of the things that I didn’t really think hard about was that a lot of youth activism is very performative — it has a great message but it doesn’t go anywhere. We see that very clearly with youth voter turnout, despite a rise in youth activism. At the end of the day, as much as we want our voices heard, if we aren’t getting more young people to the polls, its going to be really hard to get any change.

Why do you think young people aren’t turning out to vote? I agree, I think that’s a really pressing issue we haven’t solved.

Part of it is there are lots of these little organizations that are all over the place, and I’m all about that, but I think we need those little organizations to be more intersectional. Also, I think that we need to start figuring out why people aren’t voting. What is keeping young people from the polls? Transportation? Access to polls? We need big orgs like March for Our Lives or This is Zero Hour to figure out why young people aren’t voting. We need to figure out why and then address those issues.

You’ve been really transparent about your health issues on your Instagram. How does that inform your activism?

I think that having been sick my entire life, its made me much more of an empathetic person. I know how to broach things a little better. I understand that stuff comes up and stuff just is crazy. Because I have a lot of health issues, I am in touch and in check with communities that are more marginalized.

What would you say are the causes that are nearest to your heart?

A little bit of everything, but the main issues are gun violence and access to medical care and healthcare. And those are oddly intertwined — there are a lot of things that contribute to both of those, like race, socioeconomic status, and domestic violence. There are so many of these other issues that play into these main issues so much. All these issues are intertwined, and when we treat them as one issue we are often ignoring a big part of them.

Why is intersectionality so important?

I think that the big organizations that we have are doing great work, but they need to start recognizing some of these interconnected things more than they do. Organizations that work for climate justice need to talk about the racial implications of their work, how we whitewash climate issues, how we are ignoring the people who are most affected by it. That starts with the little people with the little following. Like coronavirus — its bringing up a lot of issues surrounding healthcare, internet accessibility, food accessibility, childcare, wages.

When we talk about those issues we have to talk about all these intertwined issues, and yes, it can be daunting, but as someone who had to work in the school system as a disabled person, like suddenly distance learning is a valid option? Like what? We have the resources, we just only use them when certain groups of people need them.

⚡Lightning Round ⚡

Favorite Meme

I really like the Kermit the Frog with the hood.

Activist I’d Like to Shoutout:

All the activists involved with the Meddling Kid Movement but specifically Abby La Porta. I think she’s just really strong and recognizes activists who fall into communities she may not be a part of and lifts up their voices in really amazing ways. And she uses her privilege very well.

If I Could Be Known for One Thing:

Making a difference in the lives of children.

In 2020, I am Most Looking Forwards to:

Seeing people rally and defeat Donald Trump in November. Also, high school graduation.