Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGI Justice Project) is excited to announce the newly created TGI Prison Representation Network.  We recognize that TGI people in California prisons and jails are chronically underrepresented while facing pervasive systemic abuse, and plan to meet our community’s need for legal assistance by training and deploying pro bono attorneys to represent our incarcerated family.

TGI Justice Project will train all network volunteers in:

• TGI cultural competency
• Representing people in California prisons and jails including: 
  • Sending legal mail to correspondents in prisons and jails
  • Navigating CDCr* forms and procedures
  • Organizing and conducting prison visits, including simulated visit practice

In exchange:
Attorneys will dedicate 10 pro bono hours to directly represent incarcerated TGI people unable to otherwise find representation 

Together, we can ensure that the human rights of our TGI family are respected.

Work pro bono representatives can expect to engage in:

• Advocacy letters and calls
• Name and Gender ID Clinics and assistance inside
• Assistance with administrative appeal process
• PREA reporting
• Legal action to enforce rights

Common issue areas:

• Inadequate medical care
• Staff abuse
• Abuse by other incarcerated people
• Transfers
• Placement in solitary confinement
• Name and gender marker changes
• Access to gendered property items

Trainings will take place in San Francisco as CLEs on December 4th and 11th, in Los Angeles and San Diego during Spring of 2020, and individualized trainings can be scheduled at your firm.  

More information on the San Francisco CLEs can be found on this facebook event:  https://www.facebook.com/events/570285230448815/.  
This is the link to RSVP to the CLEs: http://tinyurl.com/TGIJP


​If you or your firm want to get involved, contact Alex Binsfeld (they/them pronouns) at: alex@tgijp.org 

*The lower case “r” is used intentionally to reflect the fact that the California Department of Corrections and rehabilitation does not engage in sufficient or meaningful rehabilitation work.
​

Dear Community, 

Last month, the Trump administration announced a damaging interpretation of Title VII, arguing that discrimination against transgender people in the workplace is and should be legal.  Shifting the terminology from ‘sex’ to ‘biological sex’ was proposed to the Supreme Court, attacking transgender, gender-nonconforming, and intersex protections and workplace rights. Our TGI community is directly impacted, especially Black trans women who are most impacted by such policies. 

Currently, transgender people of color, especially Black trans women, already experience heightened workplace discrimination with little to no legal protection. There are countless roadblocks to employment opportunities, opportunities that barely exist for formerly incarcerated and trans/intersex people. Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project believes that LGBTQI+ protections and workplace rights are crucial. 

TGIJP’s Melenie Eleneke Re-Entry Program was launched in 2015 with the purpose of providing equitable employment to formerly incarcerated Black trans women. The Melenie Eleneke Re-Entry Program was created by and for our TGI family coming out of jails and prisons in order to provide immediate support, training, and paid fellowships. The program educates, strengthens, and empowers our community to re-imagine and develop their lives after incarceration through resources, supporting access to jobs, housing, healthcare, and community. Participants go through a tailored three-phase process that allows them to stabilize, develop skills, and create goals while receiving the support they need.

As we revisit 15 years of service and 5 years of paid fellowships and equitable opportunities for our community, we think about how we will keep moving forward in the fight for our freedom. 

Dear Community, 

The TGIJP family holds solidarity with Ira X Armstrong and our trans family involved in the incident on Friday June 28, 2019 and on Sunday June 30, 2019. We are outraged to hear that our community members were harassed, physically attacked, and arrested by SFPD during Pride weekend. Though not shocking, it is distressing to hear of this in a time where our community is supposed to be celebrated. Due to the long history of police brutality, specifically against trans women of color, we know that we cannot rely on cops to protect us. We must protect each other. We must show up for Ira and our folks the way they did for our community.

It is a California right to cop watch, and Ira is a trained cop watcher. Cop watching empowers our community and can reduce violence and harm by police that often occurs when no one is there to witness. Ira was arrested on Friday while exercising their right as a California resident to cop-watch. 

We continue to uphold that no cops should be at Pride or in our communities. This incident showcases the systemic racism and gender bias performed by the Prison Industrial Complex in this country. The attack on Black trans, gender variant, and intersex bodies by that very system will continue and no one can protect us but ourselves. We must work diligently towards community safety and accountability. Like Ira, it is important to document abuses by police. Furthermore, we can connect folks to resources, healing tools, and legal referrals.  

Ira has a scheduled court date on July 22, 2019. We will post updates on future court dates and encourage you to come support. 



Know your rights -- Guide to Cop Watching
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO THIS! 
​
•to be in a public place and to observe police activity.
•Stop and watch

•Write down officers’ names, badge
numbers, and car numbers. (PC sec. 830.10).

•Write down the time, date, and
place of the incident and all details
as soon as possible.

•Ask if the person is being arrested,
and if so, on what charge.

•Get witnesses’ names and contact
info.

•Try to get the arrestee’s name, but
only if they already gave it to the
police.

•Document any injuries as soon as
possible. Photograph them and
have a medical report describing
details of the injuries.



    TIPS FOR TRANS FOLKS DEALING WITH COPS

• An officer is prohibited from stopping someone solely based on gender presentation. 
• You have the right to be held in cells consistent with your gender identity unless it is not safe. If this request is not fulfilled, the police have to document the reason why.

 

• You may request to be searched by an officer of the gender that you identify as. If they don’t honor your request, they must document the reason. 

 

• The police must refer to you by the name, titles of respect (“Ms.”, “Mr.”, etc.), and pronouns that you use.

 

• The police are prohibited from making “discourteous or disrespectful” comments about your gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.

 

• You do not need to respond to a cop’s questions and you can say, “I would like to remain silent.” Not responding at all may aggravate a situation. 

 

• You do NOT have to disclose your immigration status with the police or immigration officials. If a cop stops you, you can ask if you are being detained:

If the answer is “no,” you are free to go. Cops
have a right to detain you for a short period of
time if they have reasonable suspicion that you
have or are about to commit a crime;
If the answer is “yes,” and you are under
arrest, you have a right to know why.

• You NEVER have to consent to a search of your self or your possessions. If a cop asks to search you or your bag, saying “I do not consent to a search” helps protect your rights. If the cops find condoms on you, you do not have to explain why you have them.

Police may still search your possessions or your person even if you said you do not consent and there is no warrant. If this happens, try your best 

• The police cannot strip search you to determine your gender. The police may only do a “body cavity” search if they have a warrant that specifically says so, if you are at an airport or border, or after you have been incarcerated. 

The TGIJP office is open 10am to 6pm and if you are arrested between those hours call: 415. 554. 8491

If someone has been arrested and you would like to know which precinct they are being held, call this 24hr line:
 415.553.1430


Cop Watch Pocket Guide -- https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/9faa72_2bbb6a9719c2426eadc40593aeca2984.pdf
APTP Guide -- http://justiceteams.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/APTP_view_single.pdf
In-depth San Francisco Know Your Right For Law Enforcement Encounter -- https://nlgsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/KYRpamphletSF.pdf
Know Your Rights for the Trans Community -- https://nlgsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Trans-KYR-Criminal-2014.pdf

Ms. Billie Cooper, who was chosen as one of the Grand Marshals for Pride 2019, was in attendance as well as many of TGIJP’s longtime members. They all gathered in the TGIJP office, decorated with snacks, lunch, and flow charts encompassing the many themes of the retreat. One theme was to provide a deeper understanding of how to set change in motion and learning how to work with the next generation to continue the change. Another theme included how to empower each other as abolitionists that do work differently.

​Posters that defined White Supremacy, Capitalism, and Patriarchy covered the walls, reinforcing what our members already knew but with different language. Questions littered the room asking: What does it mean to fight multiple systems working together through the lens of gender justice? What does it mean to be the ones transforming these things and creating something new? Each day included a POP: Purpose, Outcomes, and Process, to get participants' brain juices flowing and to stoke conversation. Many of the folks in attendance loved the retreat and expressed that there is not enough of this type of work being done. It’s important that there exist convenings of trans women of color, especially Black trans women, and most importantly formerly incarcerated Black trans women.

What do these retreats provide for Black trans women and trans women of color?

• A chance to connect with community.
• A chance for intergenerational connection between trans youth and elders.
• A broader understanding of oppression that Black trans women and trans women of color maneuver in the world and in their work.
• A space to heal. Healing space during the retreat is integral, as diving into the topic of oppression brings up triggers; it’s necessary to hold our folks through that process.

How can you host your own retreat?
Write a funding proposal (Many of these funders provide step by step instructions for writing a funding proposal.)

•  Funding for an individual
  Trans Justice Funding Project: https://www.transjusticefundingproject.org/
  Trans Lifeline- any document changes: https://www.translifeline.org/microgrants
• Funding for an organization
  Third Wave Fund: http://www.thirdwavefund.org/index.html
  ​Borealis Philanthropy: https://borealisphilanthropy.org/ 
  

Fundraising within your community (Grassroots Fundraising)

• Start with a planning committee. Plan around who needs to be present: Healers? Health providers?
  
• Create a theme: Mental Health? Healing? Political Education? Art? Start asking folks that are part of the community to donate money, talents, or time through volunteering. 
• Pros: Community is more willing to donate to uplift community. 
• Cons: Not likely to get folks who can donate large amounts due to limited resources. 
• You could also seek sponsors: Your radical neighborhood cafe? Favorite club? A rich John?

If folks are interested in approaching TGIJP, we may be able to assist you in a project or event. 

​

Are we doing what we need to do to make our loved ones feel safe during pride? Not as long as police are involved. 

It is important to provide sanctuaries for TLGBQIA2S folks of color, especially formerly incarcerated Black trans women, to celebrate themselves and their communities, and that can't happen with the police present. Many more communities are negatively impacted at Pride as well and there are other aspects that need to be addressed to make Pride safe. Here is a list of conditions during pride that makes communities unsafe.

1. Increased jail population for homeless communities: During Pride, the city increases funding to the San Francisco Police Department to initiate sweeps at Civic Center and Powell to “clean up” the streets for tourists and Pride guests. This causes homeless people to be displaced and jailed. The money that is invested in police sweeps can be reallocated to train communities and organizations in de-escalation and problem-solving training. The city also increases funding to the San Francisco Police Department for increased police presence in the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin is the safest district for the most marginalized LGBTQIA communities and heightened police increases arrests and furthers displacement.

2. Not financially accessible: It’s not affordable to all communities to buy food from vendors during Pride. Prices are disproportionately increased during Pride and we don’t know who benefits from that flow of money. An alternative would be discounted activities, food, and beverages for low-income communities attending Pride.  

3. Not accessible to disabled communities: There is not enough wheelchair space, not enough chairs, and not enough different accessible options. There should be paid volunteers to support people with different accessibility needs. There should be increased access the bathrooms and drinking water.

4. Commercialized and corporatized: Ban corporations investing and benefiting financially from the Prison Industrial Complex! Pride began as anti-police and anti-prison, it would be a disservice to provide space for those corporations.  

5. False sense of pride at Pride: Pride does not celebrate the most marginalized LGBTQIA communities: Black trans women, trans women of color, disabled LGBTQIA, Intersex, and people with low to no income. Pride is celebrating while breaking these communities down, and at the same time, not including them

In addition to TGIJP, St. James Infirmary and BreakOUT​ are organizations that have "walked out of Pride" in the past. 

Toronto, Canada has banned police in their Pride Toronto parade https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/pride-toronto-members-vote-to-keep-uniformed-police-officers-out-of-parade-1.4265114?fbclid=IwAR1sPNYhQMv-0SJAGUubcc2aLv1Hc2nUReo_lB2iynPMeuAq9vkC-LP-HOo

Teen Vogue agrees No Cops at Pride https://www.teenvogue.com/story/why-police-arent-welcome-at-pride?fbclid=IwAR3ed941zH5wZEd4jC1mSKm6-AmNm1lzqsGKN4NfQRP1clAP3s-1kucWXug

​

Decarceration is the act of freeing our loved ones from institutions. The institutions exist as jails, prisons, reformed jails and prisons, immigration custody, and more. This is one part of the definition of decarceration and another part of the definition comes from understanding the impact of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC).

Who do we want to free from institutions? Everyone. Since we are TGIJP, we are going to put emphasis on our most vulnerable community: freeing Black trans women.
And yes, everyone. I’ll get to that later.

What else is included in decarceration? Decarceration means more than getting folks out of jails and prisons. Other than freeing our loved ones from cages, the next steps are healing from the debilitating trauma of being incarcerated, improving quality of life and not limiting the quality of life for loved ones released, healing familial and communal trauma with adequate resources/harm reduction and accountability, and continuing the fight to ultimately abolish the Prison Industrial Complex.

So what do all of the points listed above actually mean? How can we begin the steps towards decarceration? How can we begin the step to highlighting our most vulnerable on the path to decarceration?

The PIC does not offer solutions for healing after being traumatized from the Prison Industrial Complex. Once our loved ones are released, they are dependent on court systems and police enforced services and no stand-alone mental health services. This is intentional because it makes police, courts, and surveillance a necessary part of our daily lives while making it harder for us to get the resources we actually need. What we need is high-quality mental health services for our loved ones released. The tinge of incarceration leaves a lasting effect on our loved ones and without proper help, our loved ones can end up re-incarcerated. We want to avoid re-incarceration to continue decarceration. While some mental health services exist, many are operated under the Sheriff’s Departments, courts, or other punitive systems. The post-release systems use punitive solutions to more harshly impact Black and brown bodies, even more so with Black trans women. These systems aren’t designed for us to thrive individually or as part of Black trans, gender-variant, and intersex communities, I mean, they aren’t designed to be successful to anyone, but they are especially disciplinary to those communities.

We need to abolish systems of continuous punishment alike to restrictive, mandatory and punitive/court-ordered programs, police as service providers, restrictive access to state funded resources, electronic monitoring, and more to strive towards decarceration, and break that chain of reincarceration. Continuing punishment after time served decreases the quality of life for our loved ones as they remain trapped in the system even after being released from physical cages. Punitive punishment is the abstract cage. Then, we need language around learning the gifts and talents of our folks, making sure they have access to opportunities when they are released. These opportunities should be completely removed from all parts of the Prison Industrial Complex--that includes sheriffs departments--and based in the communities and organizations that actually help us to survive and thrive.

How can the community stride towards decarceration? Start with alternative ways of addressing harm and community accountability. Start with crisis intervention that is community-based. These are actions that can reduce or eliminate police involvement and further eliminate incarceration. The community can create more resources, alternatives to housing, housing stability once housed, access to harm reduction, food, clothing, and more. In addition to, communities should have access to services once a loved one is released. Families and loved ones can build relationships and with their children when released. They can repair family and community damages. The trauma of incarceration is widespread. Strong communities are the glue to aid in keeping released loved ones safe and out of the system.

I know you just read a lot and it probably feels overwhelming, but reading this is the first step and I’m proud of you. You can start with small steps, really huge steps, or whatever is within your capacity. I’m going to plug some resources below and some allies to check out -- start a dialogue -- come to mail night at TGIJP -- start an abolition chapter in your neighborhood! We love you and together we can continue the fight.  

With love and power,
Janetta Johnson and the TGIJP Family

Abolitionist Toolkit -- http://criticalresistance.org/resources/the-abolitionist-toolkit/

Addressing Harm,  Accountability, and Healing -- http://criticalresistance.org/resources/addressing-harm-accountability-and-healing/

Community Accountability Wordpress -- https://communityaccountability.wordpress.com/

Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence -- http://www.creative-interventions.org/tools/toolkit/

​Survived and Punished Restorative Resources for Survivors -- https://survivedandpunished.org/analysis/

Involuntary Mental Health Services and Mandated Reporting is a Form of Carceration -- https://mirrormemoirs.com/call-for-participants/
https://medium.com/@thesimonecherie/recovering-from-the-trauma-of-treatment-5f972a42c21d

​

​Three Black transgender women were brutally murdered on the last weekend of February. Their names were Chyna Dupree, Ciara McElveen and Jaquarrius Holland. TGI Justice Project is deeply saddened to witness such a great community loss and, like many, we have been grieving this tremendous loss.
 
Thus far in 2017, at least seven trans women of color have been murdered in the United States. Last year at this time, there were at least five murders of transgender people, a number which increased to 27 (that were reported) by the end of 2016.
 
To make matters worse, the Trump administration is taking away life-saving protections for transgender children and their families, creating an environment ripe for shaming, bullying, hate crimes, and suicide. It is no coincidence that these events have occurred simultaneously—in fact, these events speak to the heart-wrenching realities of violence that transgender people face every day.
 
While we at TGIJP have long advocated for transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex people to be affirmed exactly as we are, this year, like every year before it, began with the devastating reminder that we have a long way to go to get there.
 
Attacks on Black transgender people are occurring interpersonally and systemically through violent transphobia in government, at church, and in our own homes. The refusal of many to have honest conversations about why Black transgender women are killed with impunity only emboldens the people who kill us.
 
Transphobia is as deeply rooted in our society as it is dangerous. It exists in all of us, because in America that is how we are socialized – to adhere to a prescriptive set of traditional gender identities and conservative values that leave little room for freedom of choice or individuality. Eliminating transphobia, and stopping the violence perpetuated against Black trans women in particular, requires each of us to be daring enough to reflect on how we have all contributed to it, and to be mindful of how we have, whether we are aware of it or not, given rise to an environment in which transgender people are in danger doing everyday activities like walking down the street, going to work, or having a cup of coffee. It requires educators to begin teaching lessons on the history of transgender people, for legislators to take seriously their job to protect every single person they claim to represent, and for everyday people to intervene when witnessing violence against trans people.
 
Ultimately, ending violence against trans people requires those who are not transgender to listen to and respect the needs of transgender people, and for each of us to unearth in ourselves a lifelong commitment to advocating on behalf of each other.
 
In Black communities, we’ve raised awareness about the pervasiveness of gender-based violence and the impact that violence has on everyone involved. However, violence against and the murdering of Black transgender women at the hands of Black men who are not transgender goes unchecked by everyone.  Our communities have begun to address violence against Black women who are not transgender, but this has not been extended to Black transgender women, and we should be asking ourselves why.  
 
The fight for civil rights for Black people is alive and strong. Many of the tools we need to abolish anti-Black transphobia exist within that fight, and we are the ones to do it. We have always demanded to not be treated prejudicially because of who we are and what we look like. Now, Black people have a responsibility to hold people who are transphobic in our communities accountable for their discrimination.
 
We can do this by critically examining the values at the core of people’s bigotry, and by having courageous conversations with those who are closest to us about where they learn to be transphobic. These are ways in which we can start to confront the transphobia in ourselves and, even more importantly, commit to eliminating it. We must uphold and take seriously the collective responsibility of every person to learn about, understand, and realize the full range of human rights that transgender people are due.
 
This is most important because Black transgender people, who live at the dangerous intersection of gender-based violence and anti-Blackness, are the fulcrum of the success of anti-discrimination protections – if Black trans women are not safe, none of us are safe. For transphobia to be abolished, every individual person has a role to play. At the center of all this is acknowledging the long-standing system that allows people with male privilege to exercise tremendous violence against those without that privilege – in other words, patriarchy.
 
Our communities are on constant defense from the daily harassment, violence and abuse they face and are eager to find ways to stay safe and to stay alive. People without this experience can’t imagine what it’s like to worry incessantly if the people you’re in relationship or community with want to do you harm. When you are facing real physical and mental violence from everyone around you - from strangers to doctors, legislators to social workers - life becomes about basic survival, and living a fulfilling life becomes impossible. To add insult to injury, there are no protections at the state or federal level for Black transgender women acting in self-defense to protect ourselves. But while the system was not designed to protect us, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we deserve to live and to be affirmed.
 
The mandate for Black people and everyone now is to transform ourselves and our conditions by both confronting state violence and confronting every day, gender-based and transphobic violence against Black trans women. We ask that you join us in this commitment to keeping Black trans women and trans women of color safe; we ask that you offer up everything you can in this moment as an ally, as a comrade, and as our family. Ask yourselves what little steps you can take to intervene on transphobia as a daily practice. We encourage you to start working on the local and regional level--find organizations in your area like BreakOUT!, El/La Para Translatinas, Solutions Not Punishment Coalition (SnapCo), or Audre Lorde Project that directly invest in and center the leadership of transgender and gender non-conforming people of color. Donate your time, energy and money into these local efforts and find ways to be in meaningful relationship with them. Creating a culture of safety is much larger than the task to “stop killing Black trans women;” what we are suggesting instead is the possibility that we can all prevent and intervene against this violence daily. If you have an extra room to offer up to someone in need, if you have a meal to spare, or if you can walk with someone and make sure they get home safely--these are all ways we can begin to create a culture of safety among one another. Remember that this work begins and ends with each of us individually. And, we are all uniquely a part of a stronger collective community, which, when strong at the foundation, can make great shifts systematically toward solidifying the world we truly want to see.
 
With love from,
Janetta Johnson and the TGIJP family
 
Be safe and stay strong!