Thank you to everyone for all your support of the Welfare Justice Campaign! To date we have collected over 1,300 petitions and postcards. The campaign has received support from New York City elected officials including Council Person Letitia James, Council Person Rosie Mendez, and Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
All of your support has been critical to the campaign. We are excited to update that we recently received word from the Human Resources Administration that the new procedure should be approved by the end of the month. This is great news as we've been pressuring HRA for a projected approval date for months. After over five years of organizing by Trans and Gender Non Conforming communities in New York City we are weeks away from a major step towards winning Welfare Justice! for Trans and Gender Non Conforming people in New York City.
Please continue to build support for the campaign by collecting petitions and postcards, signing up as an endorser, and getting the word out. We are always looking for volunteers for the campaign, contact mvazquez@alp.org.
Thank you!
Audre Lorde Project/TransJustice, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice, Sylvia Rivera Law Project
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WHAT YOU CAN DO
Join us in continuing to pressure HRA and Support Justice for Trans and Gender Non Conforming people!
1) Endorse the Welfare Justice Campaign! We are calling on organizations and individuals to support Welfare Justice for Trans and Gender Non Conforming People by endorsing the campaign today. To endorse please submit the form on ALP’s website at Endorse. If you have any questions or need a hard copy of the endorsement form please email endorse@alp.org or call 718-596-0342 x 32.
2) Sign the e-petition and get others to sign. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/endtransphobianow/
3) Collect HRA Postcards. We are also collecting signed postcards to send to HRA. You can either:
- Make your own copies - Download the HRA Postcard, print it, sign it, get others to sign and mail the signed postcards to TransJustice, ALP, 85 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Download postcard here
Or
- Request postcards - Contact Mya Vazquez at 718-596-0342 x 23 or mvazquez@alp.org , tell us how many you want and where to mail them to.
4) Get involved with the campaign. To volunteer with the campaign or get more information contact mvazquez@alp.org
TransJustice, a project of the Audre Lorde Project, is one of the first community organizing groups created by and for Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) People of Color in New York City. The Audre Lorde Project is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color Community Organizer Center based in Brooklyn, New York.
Campaign Background
Since 2005, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) communities in New York City have been urging the Human Resources Administration (HRA) to address the rampant Transphobia, discrimination, and harassment that Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people in New York City face when seeking to access welfare/public assistance.
In June of 2008, a week before the Fourth Annual Trans Day of Action (annual March organized by TransJustice of the Audre Lorde Project) which was set to protest at HRA headquarters, HRA officials agreed to meet with TransJustice to hear community concerns. After this first meeting with HRA in the Fall of 2008, TransJustice formed a committee of organizations including the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Housing Works, Queers for Economic Justice and others, to develop a HRA procedure to address transphobic discrimination at HRA. To date HRA has not approved this new procedure.
In 2005 the New York City Human Resources Administration and a Citizen Advisory Transgender Sub Committee developed Best Practice Protocols for Working With and Serving Trans and Gender Non Conforming Employees and Clients (the new procedure is based on this document), these protocols sat on the shelf for years and were never implemented nor adopted by HRA. This cannot happen again.