ALP’s 12th Annual Trans Day of Action on June 24th was a huge success with over 2000 Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color and Allies taking to the streets! The resistance, resilience and power of Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color was deeply felt. We could not have done this without our many supporters and endorsers who donated snacks, volunteered, and marched with us. Please see below for our Points of Unity that brought us together on this historic day!
The 12th Annual NYC Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice
Points of Unity
Initiated by TransJustice twelve years ago, of the Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color (LGBTSTGNC POC) Center for Community Organizing.
We as TGNC People of Color (POC), recognize the importance of working together alongside other movements to create the world we want to see. We live in a time when oppressed peoples including people of color, people who are currently and formerly incarcerated, immigrants, youth and elders, people with disabilities, women, TGNC people, and poor people are underserved, face higher levels of discrimination, heightened surveillance and experience increased violence at the hands of the state. Let’s come together to let the world know that TGNC rights will not be undermined and we will not be silenced!
These are the points of unity, which hold together the purpose of this important march:
A Points of Unity 2016
1. We demand an end to profiling, harassment and brutality at the hands of the police. Like many other oppressed communities, TGNC people are targeted, profiled and brutalized by the police. The New York Anti-Violence Project reports that Trans women are 4 times more likely to experience police violence than other communities who report experiencing violence. We oppose increased policing because the presence of police and the use of policing tactics do not end violence against LGBTSTGNC POC (People of Color). As members of Communities United for Police Reform (CPR), we demand an end to the discriminatory “Broken Windows” practices of the NYPD and demand that they make amends now!
2. We demand justice for the many TGNC POC who have been beaten, assaulted, sexually assaulted, and murdered. These incidents continue to be silenced and misclassified. We demand an end to non-physical acts of violence such as verbal harassment and gender policing. Instead of disrespecting the identities of TGNC POC, we call for media to address individuals by their names and pronouns. The police and the media continue to criminalize us even when we try to defend ourselves. Hate crime laws will not solve these problems - instead, they will give increased power to the state to put more people in jail. In striving for social justice, we recognize complacency to be an act of violence and we seek to find ways to hold people accountable. We work to come to a collective understanding about how we can make our communities safer.
3. We demand access to both public and private spaces without fear of harassment or brutality. We know that recently the New York City Council passed the ‘All Gender Bathroom Bill’ protecting the LGBTQTSTGNC community from discrimination and harassment when using restrooms in public and private spaces but it does not ensure our safety of oppressive culture is not changed at the same time. We call for access and agency to choose which restrooms match our gender identities and gender expressions. Bill de Blasio launched a campaign to promote awareness and education. We do not feel like it is enough especially when using messaging like “must use the bathroom that is consistent with gender identity”. We recognize gender identity and/or expression are fluid. We call for the development of gender neutral restrooms, and for staff and patrons in both public and private spaces to be held accountable when discrimination and abuse happens.
4. We demand the need to give full legalization of migrants. We are in solidarity with Indigenous-identified Two-Spirit people and the sovereignty of the First Nations, on whose land the US has enforced arbitrary borders. TGNC POC deserve the right to access respectful immigration services. We demand that the consulates of all countries respect and honor our identities and provide passports and other documentation that accurately reflects who we are. We oppose: the Secure Communities program, the Guest Worker program, the Real ID Act, that are enforcement provisions to build more walls, and laws that give greater powers to the Department of Homeland Security, and increase barriers for asylum seekers, and all other anti-immigrant policies. We are in solidarity with the more than 3 million people who have been deported and we demand an end to this displacement. (#notonemore)
5. We are in solidarity with all prisoners, especially the many TGNC POC people behind the walls. We oppose the growth of the prison industrial complex which targets and does violence to our communities, and we call attention to the criminal injustice system that increasingly puts POC, migrants, people with disabilities, TGNC POC and poor people behind bars. We call attention to the under-reported accounts of violence including sexual assault that our community faces at the hands of correction officers and other prisoners in psychiatric facilities, group homes and shelters. We demand an end to the torture and discrimination that TGNC POC prisoners face, and we demand that all TGNC POC prisoners receive appropriate and respectful health care. We demand an end to the criminalization of our communities and our lives.
6. We oppose the US “War on Terrorism” as it is an excuse to legitimize the expansion of the U.S. as an imperial superpower and to separate our communities by fostering feelings of hate, xenophobia, Islamophobia and violence. We recognize the genocide in Orlando isn’t an isolated incident, with over 200 anti-LGBT bills from this country’s government, this is a direct result of colonization, the repressive ideologies government continues to kill our people with. We 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.
7. We demand accessible, respectful and comprehensive health care. In recognizing that Trans and GNC healthcare is not “special” healthcare. We call for accountability from private and public hospital facilities. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project’s Medicaid Campaign was a success, and yet our community is still not receiving adequate healthcare. TGNC POC deserve the right to access emergency health care and to be treated with dignity and respect when receiving care. We demand that health care and insurance providers acknowledge this right and provide these services without bias and without discrimination.
8. We demand safety while using public transportation. We celebrate the court ruling that protects TGNC POC by giving us the right to take action against the MTA (NYC’s public transportation system) if their employees use discriminatory language against us. TGNC POC should be addressed by their preferred pronouns, and should not be targeted by employees or harassed by other customers. We call on the MTA to ensure the safety not only of TGNC POC but of women, children, youth, elders, and all riders. We demand the immediate end to criminalizing people performing, dancing, and getting their lives on the trains! Stop criminalizing our survival!
9. We demand that all people who receive public assistance be treated with respect and dignity. We are in solidarity with all people living on public assistance. We celebrate our 2011 campaign that resulted in the development of proper procedures for serving TGNC clients as well as a community-developed training curriculum - we demand that the Human Resources Administration continue to implement cultural competency trainings for all employees. The burden of education should not fall on the TGNC POC community.
10. We demand access to respectful and safe housing. A disproportionate number of TGNC POC have been or are currently homeless. Homeless members of our community experience violence and discrimination when attempting to access shelters and housing programs. We lift up the legacy of Queers for Economic Justice, an organization that was forced to close its doors due to the lack of support and funding for the TGNC POC community. We demand that all Department of Homeless Services shelters provide adequate TGNC sensitivity trainings for all personnel and that they enforce clear non-discrimination policies that respect the dignity and safety of all homeless people. We demand safe spaces for all TGNC people. We are in opposition to gentrification that has pushed us out of our neighborhoods and spaces; the displacement of our communities and rezoning our families is not progress. We call for safe, affordable housing for our communities IN our communities!
11. We demand that TGNC POC have equal access to employment and education opportunities. We are outraged by the high numbers of TGNC POC who are unemployed. Few TGNC POC have access to opportunities for learning in a safe school environment. We demand that all employers and educational institutions implement non-discrimination policies that respect the rights of all workers and students - these policies should comply with the NYC Human Rights Law that prohibits discrimination against gender identity and expression.
We lift up and celebrate the lives of our fallen comrades, Mya Hall, Penny Proud, Kristina Gomez Reinwald, Bri Golec, Yasmin Vash Payne, Ty Underwood, Taja Dejesus, Lamia Beard, London Chanel, Shante Isaac, Maya Young, Kendicee Johnson, Islan Nettles, Gizzy Fowler, Tyra Hunter, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Amanda Milan and the many others we have not named and to the names we don’t know, rest in power!!
Thank You So Much to the Following Endorser's of TDOA! Muchisimas Gracias A Todex que han apoyado TDOA!
#BlackLivesMatter NYC
API Rainbow Spectrum and Allies
Apicha Community Health Center
Association for Legal Aid Attorneys LGBTQ Caucus
BAYAN QUEER CAUCUS
Believe Out Loud
Brooklyn Community Pride Center
BYP100-NYC Chapter
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
Caribbean Equality Project
Center for Constitutional Rights
CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies
Coalition for Queer Youth
Community Healthcare Network
Community Kinship Life
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Damayan Migrant Workers Association
Dari Project
Equality for Flatbush
Exponents
Families for Freedom
FIERCE
GABRIELA New York
GABRIELA USA
Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York
Gender is Over! (If You Want It)
Global Action Project
Grand Street Settlement
GRIOT Circle, Inc.
Harlem United
Helix Queer Performance Network
Hispanic AIDS Forum
Hollaback!
ICE-Free NYC
Jay's House
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
Jim Collins Foundation
Justice Committee
Know Your IX
Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn
Lambda Legal
Latino Pride Center
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, NYC
Love Intersections
Metropolitan Community Church
Ms. Foundation for Women
National Domestic Workers Alliance
New York Abortion Access Fund
New York City Anti-Violence Project
New York Collective of Radical Educators
New York Harm Reduction Educators
Orgullo En Accion
Palante Technology Cooperative
Peoples Power Assembly
Peter Cicchino Youth Project at the Urban Justice Center
Planned Parenthood of NYC
Pride Center of Staten Island
Q-WAVE
Queens Pride House
Queer and Trans People of Color at Columbia Law School
Queer Detainee Empowerment Project
Raising Women's Voices
Re:Gender
SALGA NYC
Sister Circle Collective
Stonewall Community Foundation
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
The Center for Anti-Violence Education
The Greene Hill Food Coop
The Latino Pride Center
Theatre of the Oppressed NYC
Third Root Community Health Center
Trans Justice Funding Project
Translatina Network
UPROSE
Violence Intervention Program Inc
Vision Change Win
Visual AIDS
War Resisters League
What's Your Issue?
Workers World Party
YA-YA Network
Yeah, That's What She Said
Al Schwager
Alexis Diaz
Amita Swadhin
Anna Krakowsky
Ayelet Parness
Benevolence Ng
Briyana Davis
Carla Nathan
Eleni Z
Hampton family
Hari Nef
Jai Dulani
Janine Edmée Hakim
Jinhwa Lee
John Tiedemann
Jules Skloot
Kaz Mitchell
Kim Ford
Krystal Portalatin
Lanny
Margot Hager
Mariam I. Habib
Marie Varghese
May Madarang
Mik Kinkead
Mohamed Q. Amin
Monica Moorehead
Muriel Leung
N. Ordover
Nasheed Abdul-Wakil
Rakhi
Richard Blum
RJ Kaleohano Nadal
S. Leigh Thompson-Shealy
Seyi Adebanjo
State Represenative Park Cannon
Stephanie M. Peña
Suneela Mubayi
Tanvi Agrawal
Taylor Kowalski
Toni Lambert
Un Jung Lim
Winston Sweeting