The 3rd Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice

Initiated by TransJustice of The Audre Lorde Project,
LGBTST People of Color Center for Community Organizing

We call on our Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) community and on all of our allies of many movements to join us for the 3rd Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice on June 22, 2007. We as Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color recognize the importance of working together alongside other movements to change the world we want to see. We live in a time when we see people of color, immigrants and poor people being disproportionately underserved, facing higher levels of discrimination, under heightened surveillance and experiencing increased violence at the hands of the state. It is critical that we unite and work together towards dismantling the transphobia, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, homophobia and xenophobia that permeates throughout our movements for social justice. Let’s come together to let the world know that Trans and Gender Non-Conforming rights will not be undermined and together we will not be silenced!

Endorsers in Formation as of 6/14/07
*for identification purposes only

Individuals
Council Member Letitia James, NYC
James "Bo" Bolas, New York City
The Rev. Pat Bumgardner
Thomas Chen
David Dixon, Coordinator, Action Center For Justice, Charlotte, NC
Chloe Dzubillo
David Frost
Leslie Feinberg Author, Trans Activist, NYC
Cristina Garza
Martha Grevatt, Trustee, UAW Local 122, former National Secretary, Pride At
Work, AFL-CIO
Lourdes Hunter
Jesse Lokahi Heiwa
Ariana Martohardjono
Bob McCubbin
Amethyst Moonwater
Minnie Bruce Pratt Author, Jersey City, NJ
Edgar Rivera- Colon, Professor, Rutgers, NJ
Tami Starlight, National and international Trans Activist/advocate,
Vancouver, Canada

Organizations
Action Center For Justice
African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change
Al-Fatiha Foundation, Washington, DC
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
CAAAV-Organizing Asian Communities
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
Carberry Development Group, Joplin, MO
CISPES (Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador)
Colorado Anti Violence Program
Community Healthcare Network, Transgender Program, Bronx, NY
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project,(CHAMP)
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah's
Critical Resistance
Dari Project
Detroit Action Network for Reproductive Rights, Pontiac, MI
Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), NYC
Empire State Coalition of Youth and Family Services
Esperanza del Barrio
Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment (FIERCE!)
Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST)
Fruta Extrana Inc.
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC)
Gender Action Coalition (GAC)
GLOBE, a group to support and empower the LGBTQ community of Bushwick, NYC
GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side)
Hispanic AIDS Forum, Inc.
Home Outreach Program for Elders at Hartley House
Hudson Pride Connections, NJ
In the Life Media, Inc
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
Inner Child Experience
International Action Center (IAC)
International Action Center, Milwaukee
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
Joplin Gay & Lesbian Center, Joplin, MO
Justice Committee
Justice Now, Oakland, CA
Lavender Pacific Islanders
Legendary House of Ninja
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, NYC
Lighthouse Community Center, CA
LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center), San Francisco
Marriage Equality New York (MENY)
May 1st Coalition
Metropolitan Community Church of New York
Neoyorquinos Socialistas
New Children/New York
NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN)
NYC Association of Homeless and Street-Involved Youth Organizations
New York City Lesbian & Gay Anti-Violence Project
New York City Radical Cheerleaders
North East Two-Spirit Society
North Star Fund
People of Color in Crisis (POCC)
PFLAG Transgender Network
Pride At Work, Washington, DC
Puerto Rican Initiative to Develop Empowerment (PRIDE)
Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, Puerto Rico
Q~POC Lounge
Queens Community House
Queens Pride House, Queens, NYC
Queer Bandit Bike Brigade (qb^3)
Queers for Economic Justice
Queers For Peace and Justice
Queer People Of Color Action
Queer Progressive Agenda, Atlanta, GA
Radical Faeries
Resistance in Brooklyn
Revolting in Pink (R.I.P.)
SafeArt, Chelsea, VT
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, New York Holy Order
South Asian Network in Los Angeles, CA
STONEWALL Veterans' Association (SVA)
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Unity Fellowship Christ Church of NYC—Brooklyn
walk4mewednesdays.com
Workers World Party
Working Class Queer People

These are the points of unity, which hold together the purpose of this important march;

• We demand that TGNC people have equal access to opportunities of employment and education. We are outraged by the high numbers of unemployment and homelessness in our community. Many TGNC people continue to face blatant discrimination and harassment from employers because of the systemic transphobia that plagues their lives from an early age. Few TGNC people have access to opportunities for learning in a safe school environment. TGNC people demand that all employers and educational institutions implement non-discrimination policies that respect the rights of all workers and students and that they comply with the New York City Human Rights Law that prohibits discrimination against gender identity and expression!

• We demand the full legalization of all immigrants. TGNC people deserve the same rights as anyone else to access competent and respectful immigration services. We also demand that the consulates of all countries respect and honor our identities and issue passports and other documentation that accurately reflects who we are. We oppose the guest worker program, the Real ID Act, and enforcement provisions to build more walls that give greater powers to the department of homeland security. We also oppose increased barriers for asylum seekers, the HIV ban and other anti-immigrant policies that continue to divide our communities. We stand in opposition to the STRIVE Act and any other reform proposals which would result in the mass deportation of our community.

• We stand in solidarity with all prisoners and especially with the many Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people behind the walls who are often invisible even within prisoner’s rights movements. We call attention to the severe and under-reported accounts of severe violence and rape that our community faces at the hands of correction officers and other prisoners. We demand an end to the torture and high level of discrimination TGNC prisoners face. We demand that all TGNC prisoners receive competent and respectful healthcare to avoid the severe health problems they experience due to lack of care. We oppose the steadfast and continued growth of the prison industrial complex that continues to target our communities. We also recognize that in the mean time our community needs to have access to services and facilities that lessen their vulnerability to violence within the present jails and prisons. Therefore we are opposed the closing of the “gay and Trans housing” unit on Rikers Island which compromises the safety of the TGNC community that is taken to this facility. We call attention to the criminal injustice system that increasingly continues to put people of color, immigrants, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people and the poor behind bars - further criminalizing our communities and our lives. We must stand together and fight back!

• We demand that TGNC people have access to respectful and safe living spaces. Many TGNC people face severe discrimination from landlords and other housing administrators that displace them from their homes only because of their gender identity or expression. There are disproportionate numbers of TGNC people who have been or who are currently homeless. In addition, to being thrown out on the streets many homeless TGNC people continue to face discrimination when trying to access the shelters and other assisted living programs. The NYC law and the Department of Homeless Services state that transgender people will be placed in the shelters according to that person’s gender identity and that discrimination based on gender identity will not be tolerated. We demand that all Department of Homeless Service shelter administrators continue to provide adequate Trans awareness and sensitivity
trainings for all of their personnel and enforce clear non-discrimination policies that respect the dignity of all homeless people, offering a safe and respectful living space.

• We demand that all people receiving public assistance entitlements including Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color, be treated with respect and dignity. We stand in solidarity with all people living on public assistance in New York and across the country. As time passes, the NYC agencies responsible for the administration of public welfare, the Human Resources Administration (HRA), continue to ignore our demands to address the systemic problems that exist internally and perpetuate the transphobia and harassment faced by TGNC people of color when applying for benefits such as; welfare (Food Stamps, Medicaid, etc.), access to shelters, access to culturally competent and sensitive healthcare, drug treatment programs, adult protective services, eviction prevention, and other essential services from their agencies. We demand that there be an internal investigation of these incidents and an establishment of clear guidelines as to where to submit complaints to the entity responsible to responding to these complaints.

• We demand that the Administration of Children Services (ACS) and Private Foster Care Agencies recognize that they deal with children and youth of color from economically disadvantaged families and who have been torn away from their families and home environments. We demand that all children and youth, under the jurisdiction of ACS, have the right to the freedom of gender expression and identity. In the 2002-landmark case Jean Doe v. Bell, it was established that children in NYC’s foster care system cannot be discriminated against for being transgender and cannot be forced to wear only clothing associated with their birth gender. Government institutions like ACS and private foster care agencies must be accountable for the health of people under their care, and recognize that this responsibility must include Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people and Trans related heath care. We demand that ACS initiates a full investigation of all the incidents of misallocation of personal funds and the violations of confidentiality issues that have negatively affected the lives of children and youth under their care.

• We oppose the Bush Administration’s so called “War on Terrorism” fabricated as an excuse to legitimize the expansion of the U.S. as a imperial super power and to justify a national security strategy that is really meant to militarize our boarders and heighten surveillance and control over people living in the U.S., separating our communities by fostering feelings of hate, xenophobia, and violence. Everyday we see more and more of our basic human rights like; healthcare, jobs, education, housing, privacy, self-determination and the right of dissent slipping away from all of us. We must stand up now to demand the immediate removal of all U.S. troops from all countries under occupation and demand an end of use of U.S. dollars to cultivate and sponsor wars against people in the U.S. and abroad.

• We demand justice for the many trans and gender non-conforming people who have been beaten, assaulted, raped, and murdered yet these incidents continue to be silenced, misclassified or blamed on the victim as if this was their fault. The police and the media continue to criminalize us even when we try to defend ourselves. An increase in hate crime laws will not solve the problem but will give increase power to the state to put more people in jail. Instead we are calling for a unified effort for all of us to look deeper into the root causes of why these incidents happen and as a society that seeks social justice find ways of holding people accountable and come to a joint understanding of how we can make our communities safer for all of us. Like many other oppressed communities like communities of color, immigrants and the poor, TGNC people are also targeted, profiled and brutalized by the police. We demand an end to the profiling, harassment, arrest, brutality and murder that occurs at the hands of the police! These incidents of violence do not occur in isolation, and are aggravated by racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia, misogyny, ageism and damaging strict heterosexist values.

We stand in solidarity with the 7 young Lesbian women arrested in the West Village for defending themselves from a man that assaulted them, we stand in solidarity with Miriam, a transgender woman who was pushed out the window of her 4th floor apt. and left for dead just a few months ago, we commemorate the memory of Erika Keels, Ruby Ordeñana, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Aruajo, Amanda Milan and the many other brave souls we have lost, who struggled and lived their lives fearlessly day in and day out, being true to who they were. They keep the fire of struggle burning within all of us.

On June 22, 2007, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color and allies will take on the streets of New York City once again and demand justice to let the world know that the Stonewall rebellion is not over and that we will continue fighting for social and economic justice, raising our voices until we are heard! We call on all social justice activists from communities of color, the LGBT movement, immigrant rights movement, the anti-war movement, the reproductive rights movement, youth and student groups, trade unions and worker organizations, religious communities and HIV/AIDS and social service agencies, both local and organizations around the country to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together on June 22nd, 2007!

Yours in Struggle,

TransJustice, a working group of the Audre Lorde Project

To endorse the Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice 2007, send an email to endorsetdoa@alp.org, for more information about the march send an email to info4tdoa@alp.org or contact Elizabeth Rivera at 718-596-0342 x18.

The 3rd Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice Points of Unity
Initiated by TransJustice of The Audre Lorde Project,
LGBTST People of Color Center for Community Organizing
85 South Oxford Street * Brooklyn, NY 11217-1607 Tel:
718-596-0342 ext 18 * Fax: 718-596-1328* Email:
endorsetdoa@alp.org