She helped raise $2 million for abortion funds by calling out Matt Gaetz: Meet Olivia Julianna, a Gen Z activist who has inspired copycat fundraisers
Gaetz denies allegations he had a relationship with a teenage girl.
Teen activist Olivia Julianna raises $2.1M for abortions after Rep. Matt Gaetz mocks overweight women
HOUSTON — Olivia Julianna has been making waves on social media ever since she exchanged tweets with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on the matter of abortion rights — a highly debated topic following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. What started as a war of words has turned into millions of dollars raised for abortions from people across the country.
“Republican politicians have consistently undermined both my intelligence and the intelligence of organizations like Gen Z for Change, and first and foremost, I’m an activist,” said Julianna in an interview on MSNBC.
“I’m somebody who, when I have the opportunity to help people in my community, that’s what I’m going to do. So, Matt Gaetz undermining me and attempting to attack me and body shame me into submission has handed me a national platform on a silver platter and we’ve been able to take advantage of that and turn hatred into health care and people are going to get services that they need that they may not have been able to get access to before.”
As a young Texan who has been rallying behind @BetoORourke, this was truly a special and memorable moment.
We are fighting for the soul of Texas, and we will win. pic.twitter.com/bu6mVUHV7g
— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) August 1, 2022In her profile picture, 19-year-old Julianna sports a “Bans off of our bodies” T-shirt imploring politicians to stop imposing their beliefs on women and give them bodily autonomy.
But Gaetz doesn’t see it that way. During a Turning Point Action summit, Gaetz asked the crowd if they’d ever watched “pro-abortion rallies” insisting that the people that attend them are “disgusting.”
“Why is that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?” Gaetz asked the crowd. “Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb. These people are odious on the inside and out. They’re like 5’2’, 350 pounds…”
Gaetz: “Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb.” pic.twitter.com/0qqvun3Pf8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2022
He went on to say that instead of marching for women’s rights, those in attendance should do something more productive with their time instead.
“You look like you have ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind Roe v. Wade,” he said. “A few of them need to get up and march. They need to get up and march for like an hour a day, swing those arms, get the blood pumping, maybe mix in a salad.”
Days later, when asked if suggesting women who show up to abortion rallies tend to be “ugly and overweight,” Gaetz doubled down and told the reporter, “Yes.”
Reporter: Is it safe to say that, based off your comments, you’re suggesting that these women at these abortion rallies are ugly and overweight?
“It’s come to my attention that Matt Gaetz — alleged pedophile — has said that it’s always the ‘odious. 5’2 350 pound’ women that ‘nobody wants to impregnate’ who rally for abortion,” Juliana tweeted. “I’m actually 5’11. 6’4 in heels. I wear them so the small men like you are reminded of your place.”
Gaetz denies allegations he had a relationship with a teenage girl.
In the days since the summit, Julianna has raised more than $2.1 million for those seeking abortions. The nationwide fund was launched Tuesday night and in three days it ballooned to $1.7 million. According to the site, the fund splits donations evenly among 50 abortion funds in the United States in an effort to ensure access to “critical reproductive health care.”
I have a message from @tbafund, one of the funds receiving donations (we’ve surpassed $1.5 million!)
Much love to you all ❤️ pic.twitter.com/o6dBaQ3SXG
— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 29, 2022“I’m in complete shock. I never realized it would take off as much as it has, but I’m extremely happy that it has,” Julianna said in an interview with MSNBC anchor Joy Reid. “We’ve seen an outpouring of support from around the country, and funds that have received funds are expressing their support online. I’m extremely happy with how all of this has turned out.”
In the interview with Reid, Julianna admitted she didn’t expect the overwhelming amount of support she’s received since the start of her campaign donations for abortion funds, admitting that she only hoped to raise merely a “couple thousand dollars.”
“I had no idea it would blow up as much as it has,” she said. “A million was a big goal, but now we’re shooting for two. So, hopefully we can get there in the next couple of days.”
But we are sending 2 million dollars to abortion funds across the country. https://t.co/HBZpaiMHGF
— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 31, 2022
The fund’s goal is to raise $2.5 million.
She helped raise $2 million for abortion funds by calling out Matt Gaetz: Meet Olivia Julianna, a Gen Z activist who has inspired copycat fundraisers
Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.
Twitter icon A stylized bird with an open mouth, tweeting.Twitter LinkedIn icon The word “in”.
LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F.
Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F.
Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.
Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.
- A Texas activist helped raise $2 million in abortion funds in response to comments from Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
- Olivia Julianna told Insider she used the attention to promote voter registration and other fundraisers.
- Julianna inspired an abortion fundraiser by a West Virginia activist who was also bullied by a male politician.
Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview
Olivia Julianna knows how to use the internet to get what she wants.
The Houston-based activist and political strategist for Gen-Z for Change can often be found on social media, setting up campaigns to flood critical race theory tip lines with fake messages, ratioing anti-trans politicians like Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and even raising millions for a cause.
Julianna also turned the tables on Matt Gaetz. After the Florida representative body-shamed abortion rights activists at the Turning Point USA summit in Florida in July, the 19-year-old rallied her Twitter followers to pour money into an abortion fund that helps women in states with bans access the procedure.
It worked: Supporters donated more than $2 million over the course of a week to the Gen-Z for Choice Abortion Fund, which splits donations between 50 different abortion funds in states with abortion bans.
“I just think it’s so funny because these little trolling-type counterattacks are something that the GOP has been using for like years,” Julianna told Insider. “And I think it’s funny because now they’re finally starting to kind of get a taste of their own medicine.”
In response to questions about the donations raised, a spokesperson for Gaetz previously told Insider that America was a “pro-life nation” and no “amount of solicitations will change that.”
Julianna said she’s been using the attention from her online statements to encourage voter registration and fundraise for organizations that help people get access to healthcare.
The abortion fundraiser specifically helped to “catapult” her political messaging, she said, and the attention has been “a bit of an adjustment.” Her Twitter followers now number more than 342,000.
“My social media presence and platform are being translated into genuine on-the-ground, grassroots support for these candidates who are going up against these incumbents who are ruining our state,” Julianna said. “So I would genuinely be concerned about their ability to stay in office because more and more people are getting involved.”
Inspiring others to help their own communities
Ash Orr, a West Virginia political activist, raised over $25,000 for an abortion clinic in the state after being misgendered by State Sen. Mike Azinger in an email.
During a five-day special session in the West Virginia legislature to decide the state’s new abortion laws, Democrat State Sen. Mike Caputo read a statement Orr wrote about being raped twice at the age of 10, after which they were terrified they were pregnant.
After the statement was read, Orr said Azinger insinuated that rape and incest victims should have to continue their pregnancies.
Orr, upset by his comments, emailed Azinger and accused him of not caring “for children or adults who are the victim of rape.”
Azinger replied to Orr’s email, calling their statement which was read by Caputo “pathetic” and telling Orr that they “always — always — will be a female.”
“And you are the one who does not care about the victims of rape: if they get pregnant, you want them to kill their baby, which they’ll live with for the rest of their life,” the email reads.
Orr said following that email, Azinger never replied to them again.
The original email exchange was reviewed by Insider and was sent from Azinger’s Senate email. Azinger did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Following the exchange, Orr told Insider they began “reliving that trauma” of their assault, but wanted to use the negative experience to help raise funds for the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia.
Orr said they were partially inspired by Julianna’s fundraising efforts.
“I knew that I needed to do something about this,” Orr said. “And I wanted to do something that would not only you know, help me to heal, but also help my community.”
‘Flipping the script’ on politicians who bully
Like Orr, Julianna said she speaks out to help her Texas community. She describes herself as “every one of the marginalized identities”: a plus-sized, queer, disabled, Latinx woman. She previously told Insider she spent her childhood struggling with eating disorders and body image issues and was hospitalized because of it in 2021.
When she responds to politicians spouting homophobic or racist rhetoric, Julianna said, people who relate to her feel compelled to act.
“It’s kind of like a big ‘flipping the script’ on these specific politicians, who’ve been bullying people in my different communities for so long ,” Julianna said, “and now they’re borderline getting bullied by someone who is not anywhere near the position of power they are.”
]]>