Focus on social & economic justice

On June 23, New York’s trans community will hold its second annual Trans Day of Action as part of Pride month. Below are the points of unity for this event, initiated by TransJustice of The Audre Lorde Project, a lesbian, gay, bi, two-spirit and trans people of color center for community organizing.

As trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people of color, we see that our struggle today is directly linked to many struggles here in the U.S. and around the world. We view the second annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice on June 23 as a day to stand in soli darity with all peoples and movements fighting against oppression and inequality.

We view this action as following the legacy of our trans people of color warriors, such as Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. John son, and others who with extreme determination fought not only for the rights of all trans and gender non-conforming people, but also were on the front lines for the liberation of all oppressed peoples.

Why we are taking action on June 23rd:

* We know that the histories of human beings, our cultures and communities have been rich with multiple gender identities, experiences and expressions. In 2006, the two-gender system is enforced everywhere, targeting trans and gender non-conforming people in health care, immigration, bathrooms, clothing, shelters, prisons, schools, government forms, job applications and identity documents.

* We demand the end of gender policing that isolates TGNC people from the rest of our communities that have been socialized with oppressive definitions of gender. As a result, TGNC people live in fear of facing economic, psychiatric, sexual and physical as well as other forms of violence because of who we are. This transphobic violence has been justified through medical theories and/or religious beliefs. Perpetuated in order to preserve America’s racist and heterosexist values, gender policing and violence not only denies our existence as TGNC people, but maintains control over our broader communities being able to build solidarity with each other’s struggles.

* On June 23, 2006, we as peoples and activists from diverse backgrounds will unite to rally and march, in order to continue:

1. The fight against police brutality,

2. To oppose the racist and xeno phobic (fear of foreigners) immigration policies of the Bush administration,

3. To show our outrage at the lack of access to living wage employment, adequate affordable housing,
quality education, basic health care for our communities, and

4. To demand an end to the devastating impacts of U.S. imperialism
(so-called U.S. “war on terrorism”)
being waged against people at home and abroad.

* We see the Trans Day of Action as part of a larger campaign to fight for jobs and educational opportunities for TGNC people, especially [those] of color, who have historically faced systematic discrimination and/or dependency on sub-standard governmental programs for our survival. We strive to change the political climate in this country by organizing the second New York City Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color Job and Education Fair, scheduled for Jan. 20, 2007.

We call upon our allies in corporate and private-sector businesses, non-profit agencies, higher education and the trade union movement to pledge their support for the second New York City Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color Job and Education Fair.

* On this day, we remember and commemorate the life of Amanda Milan and the lives of countless others who were murdered because of their gender/ expression. On June 20, 2000, Amanda Milan, a 25-year-old African-American transgender woman, was brutally murdered in the middle of an intersection near Port Authority Bus Terminal as onlookers cheered. We demand an end to all forms of violence and state repression committed against trans and gender non-conforming people, and it is imperative that the media focus attention on this escalating problem.

* Stop police brutality and all forms of police repression! The police and other government agencies have profiled, harassed, brutalized, arrested and murdered multitudes of people in our communities. Many of those victimized are people of trans experience. As is the case with immigrants, communities of color, women, elders and young people, who also systematically face oppression in society, TGNC people often have no legal recourse because the violence perpetuated against them was, and still is, state-sanctioned.

* We demand that the NYC agency responsible for the administering of public welfare-the Human Resources Admini stration (HRA)-address the existing systemic problems of discrimination and harassment faced by trans and gender non-conforming people when trying to obtain public benefits such as health care, food stamps, welfare, adult protective services, eviction prevention and other essential services from their agency. We believe that all people receiving public assistance entitlements should be treated with respect and dignity. We stand in solidarity with all people living on public assistance and against the cutting of funds for welfare in New York and across the country.

* We demand full legalization and an end to the criminalization of all immigrants. We oppose the Bush administration’s guest worker proposals, the Real ID Act, all enforcement provisions to build more walls and give greater powers to the Department of Homeland Security, increase barriers to asylum seekers, the HIV ban and other anti-immigrant policies that continue to divide our communities. We are them and they are us. Trans and gender non-conforming immigrants and allies stand in solidarity and find inspiration in the growing immigrant rights movement. We raise our voices today and march together demanding amnesty for all immigrants!

In this spirit, we as trans and gender non-conforming people of color call on all social justice activists from communities of color, lesbian, gay, bi, two-spirit and trans movements, immigrant rights organizations, youth and student groups, trade unions and workers’ organizations, religious communities and HIV/AIDS and social service agencies to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together on June 23. With this march we honor the lives of those who came before us and honor the courage of all of our communities that continue to struggle and fight for liberation and self-determination every day.

In solidarity, TransJustice, a project of The Audre Lorde Project.

To endorse the Second Annual Trans Day of Action, e-mail [email protected] or call (718) 596-0342, ext. 18.