Tomorrow, January 13, from 6-8 PM, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project is holding our first membership meeting of the new year, and we want to see you! We have exciting changes to share and successes to celebrate, including the launching of our new series “Everyday Abolition,” updates about our trans healthcare and Medicaid campaigng, and […]
Archive | Policy Advocacy
SRLP Celebrates Community-Led Orgs on Our NYC Birth Certificate Victory
After more than 10 years of advocacy from community-led organizations, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has finally removed the requirement of surgery for changing the gender marker on a birth certificate. This is a huge victory. Since we opened our doors in 2002, SRLP has worked to remove this requirement. […]
Take a Two Minute Action for Trans Lives!
Trans people born in New York City still can’t update our birth certificates to reflect our gender without undergoing invasive and often inaccessible surgeries. Without this change to our ID documents, trans people can face serious obstacles in accessing employment, housing, and basic services. Having documentation that doesn’t match our gender can often trigger bias, harassment, discrimination, or […]
Anti-Violence Advocates Against Deportation Statement at NY City Council Committee on Immigration Hearing on 10/15/14
New York City Council Committee on Immigration October 15, 2014 Hearing Anti-Violence Advocates Against Deportation Testimony in support of Int. 0487-2014 Anti-Violence Advocates Against Deportation antiviolencenyc@gmail.com My name is Juana Peralta from the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. I am reading the statement of the Anti-Violence Advocates Coalition Against Deportation which is based on our letter […]
SRLP & Anti-Violence Advocates Against Deportation Coalition Testify at City Hall
Since 2011, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project has been hard at work with a coalition of organizations in New York City, the Anti-Violence Advocates Against Deportation Coalition, to shine a light and put a stop on the abuse caused by ICE’s collaboration with local law enforcement in New York. Last week, SRLP Director of Outreach […]
TUNE IN at 7 PM on 10/16: SRLP Attorney John Skwiersky to Speak on Birth Certificates with Corey Johnson on NY1
Tune in tonight to NY1’s Inside City Hall to hear a panel conversation with New York City Council Member Corey Johnson and SRLP Attorney John Skwiersky on issues facing low-income trans people and trans people of color, including a conversation on the NY City Council’s proposed birth certificate policy. Visit http://www.ny1.com/content/politics/inside_city_hall/ to stream it live. For more […]
SRLP Commends New York City Council on Proposed Birth Certificate Policy
Since the Sylvia Rivera Law Project opened our doors in 2002, we have been at the forefront of the battle to make birth certificate changes more accessible to transgender people. Since 1970, New York City and State’s rules for a person changing their gender on their birth certificate had been very restrictive, requiring extensive evidence of invasive […]
BREAKING: New York State Updates Birth Certificate Policy, Removing Surgical Requirement
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is excited to announce that after ten years of hard work and negotiations New York State has made an important policy change that eliminates barriers to identity documents by allowing transgender New Yorkers to change the gender marker on their birth certificate without undergoing surgery. People born in New York […]
SRLP Victory: Appellate Court Upholds the Right of Incarcerated Transgender People to Have Name Changed
May 31, 2012 After a two year legal struggle, New York courts uphold an incarcerated transgender woman’s right to change her name, reversing an earlier denial of her legal name change related to lack of medical evidence and the possibility of “confusion” ALBANY – The New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, […]
STATE DEPARTMENT REMOVES SURGERY REQUIREMENT FOR CHANGING GENDER MARKERS ON U.S. PASSPORTS !!!!!
Big News!!! The State Department has removed the surgery requirement for passport gender marker changes. Starting June 10, “when a passport applicant presents a certification from an attending medical physician that the applicant has undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition, the passport will reflect the new gender.” (see the full announcement here) SRLP has […]