I visited Attica Correctional Facility on July 12, a hot day even for Western New York. Despite how many times I have seen images of Attica Correctional Facility, the first time approaching it was startling. The facade is a huge wall that wraps around the entire complex almost like a child’s drawing of a castle. […]
Happy Birthday Sylvia and Marsha
On June 26th, SRLP’s Movement Building Team and GMHC co-hosted the 4th annual ceremony and celebration for Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, Happy Birthday, Sylvia and Marsha. Cecilia Gentili, Director of Policy for GMHC, opened the event, which was held at the Christopher Street Pier, by stating: “This is our space and it’s time […]
A Life on the Inside
The following blog post is from Ms. Rona Sugar Love, an SRLP Prisoner Advisory Committee member for over five years. SRLP has lightly edited the post, with Ms. Love’s consent. Ms. Love is also a member of our Advisory Committee for our re-launch of It’s War in Here and she is a frequent contributor of […]
Continuing the Fight for Trans Liberation
As our country celebrates the Fourth of July, a holiday that symbolizes freedom, we continue to see the ways in which our community is not free, especially members who are incarcerated throughout the country. Our members are confined, surveilled, and isolated on a constant basis, some even being forced into solitary confinement for long periods […]
Participatory Research Nights
The last week of May was busy! Not only did all three new summer legal interns start at SRLP, we also concluded our Participatory Research Nights as part of our republication of It’s War in Here. For background, in 2007, SRLP published It’s War in Here (IWIH), a report on the conditions that transgender and […]
Mother’s Day
What follows is an essay by SRLP PAC member Dana Gibson, aka Gee, reflecting on the memory of her mother. As we marked Mother’s Day and get ready to mark Father’s Day, it is so important we remember all those behind bars who cannot or do not have close family connections due to incarceration, transphobia, […]
Strength and Pride?
Below is an essay written by PAC member Dana Gibson, aka Gee. This essay contemplates what it means to survive while held in the torturous conditions of solitary confinement. To learn more about SRLP is fighting these conditions – and how you can help! – please visit our Ending Isolation campaign website. Strength and Pride? […]
SRLP’s Campaigns are Heating Up!
The weather is heating up and so are the Sylvia Rivera Law Project’s campaigns for trans liberation! SRLP is excited to share updates on our work to ensure trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex (TGNCI) people have access to healthcare, safety, and freedom from violence. Healthcare Coverage Victory for Non-Binary People Through the work of SRLP […]
Mobilizing for Workers Rights, Trans Liberation, and Immigrant Justice
On April 24th, a week before May Day, SRLP’s Movement Building Team (MBT) core members engaged in a dialogue around the intersections of immigrant justice and trans justice. We delved into issues around economic justice and access to benefits, the trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community’s lack of access to employment when fighting for workers’ […]
“Solo tenemos que esperar”: TGNCI Immigrants in Limbo
The immigrant clients of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) know what it is like to wait for a legal determination that will decide their fate, a decision that never comes. They have heard too often, and said too often, “Solo tenemos que esperar” (We just have to wait). Currently, hundreds of thousands of asylum […]