Members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project are getting ready to join thousands of New Yorkers in the push to end the use of isolated confinement in New York State prisons. On May 2, members of SRLP and the Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC) will be in Albany meeting with legislators and assemblymembers on […]
Archive | Policy Advocacy
Community in Violence
It is with great sympathy and sadness in my heart that I regret to inform our community of the continuation of murders of trans women of color in 2017. In the month dedicated to the recognition of black history, this marked the sixth murder of a trans woman of color and the fifth of an […]
Building Movement Power at the #LawStrikesBack Rally
Last week on the 17th of February, I, as a member of the Movement Building Team of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, along with members of legal agencies, activists, and social service communities, gathered to resist President Donald Trump and his racist policies at the #F17 Law Strikes Back rally in Foley Square. Along with […]
Transformation from the Inside Out: SRLP Attends the Women’s Building Opening
Yesterday, SRLP Members and Staff attended the Women’s Building opening, “Transformation from the Inside Out”, at the former Bayview Women’s Correctional Facility in NYC, hosted by the Women and Justice Project. This historic opening symbolizes the importance of abolishing prisons and jails everywhere – the Bayview Facility opened in 1978, driven by racist War […]
15 Systematic Policies and Legal Rules That SRLP Helped Change
It’s been almost 15 years since SRLP was founded as a multi-racial, trans-led collective organization working for economic, racial, and gender justice. You might not know that over the last 15 years SRLP has worked to win the following important victories: Morrill v. Morrill, establishing a transgender parent’s right to visit her children. Doe v. […]
SRLP Pushes to Reduce Hurdles to Obtaining Gender-Affirming Documents
On December 19th, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Vital Statistics held a public meeting of the NYC Gender Marker Change Advisory Board, where SRLP testified that the Board should permit fee waivers, gender self-attestation, and non-binary designations on birth certificates issued by New York City. Joining SRLP in coalition were […]
Landmark Victory Achieved in Cruz v. Zucker
This week, transgender New Yorkers eligible for Medicaid received the life-affirming news that trans-specific health care coverage is required by law for individuals, regardless of their age. This victory extends from the case Cruz v. Zucker which the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) filed in conjunction with our co-counsels, The Legal Aid Society and Willkie […]
Join SRLP October 17 in Shining a Light on Youth Health Care
In direct response to Cruz v. Zucker, our lawsuit challenging New York State’s ban on transgender health care coverage, oral arguments will be heard this coming Monday October 17 on the medical necessity of gender-affirming health care for trans youth. SRLP asks that you join us and our co-counsel The Legal Aid Society and Willkie Farr […]
Major Medical Victory for Transgender Youth in New York State
In direct response to Cruz v. Zucker, No. 14 Civ. 4456 (JSR) (SDNY), a class action filed by The Legal Aid Society, The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP on behalf of individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria, New York State recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to remove a […]
Walking While Trans – Effects of the Loitering Law on Trans-Feminine Immigrants
On September 30, 2016, the Legal Aid Society of New York and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP filed a civil rights class action lawsuit on behalf of women of color unjustly arrested for violations of New York Penal Law Section 240.37, the alleged crime of loitering for the purpose of prostitution. As a collective […]