Evan Greer

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Evan Greer
Greer performing in 2017
OccupationsMusician, writer, activist

Evan Greer is an American activist, writer, and musician from Boston, Massachusetts.[1] They are the deputy director of the nonprofit advocacy group Fight for the Future.[2][3][4][5] Greer is transgender and nonbinary.[6]

Greer is the deputy director of Fight for the Future,[7] having previously served as the organization's campaign director.[8][9] They have written on a range of topics including Internet freedom, LGBTQ issues, surveillance, big tech, and human rights for outlets including The Washington Post, Wired, NBC News, Time, and The Guardian.[10][11]

While in high school, Greer helped organize a protest against the Iraq War in 2003.[12][13] They attended Swarthmore College, but dropped out to pursue music full time.[14] In 2014 Greer helped organize the Internet Slowdown Day, an online protest in favor of net neutrality.[15][16] In 2017, Fast Company called Greer "the woman leading the fight for net neutrality."[17]

Through their work with Fight for the Future, Greer befriended Chelsea Manning and helped organize campaigns demanding Manning's release from prison.[18][19] Upon Manning's release in 2017, Greer organized a benefit album to raise funds for her living expenses, with artists including Against Me!, Thurston Moore, Graham Nash, and Amanda Palmer.[20][21]

In 2019, Greer penned an op-ed in BuzzFeed News with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello about a campaign that prompted major music festivals like SXSW, Coachella, and Bonnaroo to say they will not use facial recognition surveillance at their events.[22][23] Greer regards surveillance capitalism as "fundamentally incompatible with basic human rights and democracy."[24][25][26]

In 2024, Greer protested a speech by Nancy Mace about her proposed bathroom bill, which would ban transgender people from using bathrooms other than those of their sex assigned at birth. Greer shouted towards Mace, "We have had dozens of trans people die this year because of the hate and lies that you are spreading. Are we building an internet with free speech for everyone or just the privileged few?" Mace answered back by misgendering them[27] and making derogatory comments about their anatomy; Mace was then booed by the crowd.[28]

Music career

References

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