News & Accomplishments at Sylvia Rivera Law Project!!!
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MOVING
We’re moving! The SRLP Collective has been dreaming of a bigger office for many years, and we are thrilled to announce that we will be moving into a full-floor space right below our close friends and allies at FIERCE! This new office will have twice as much space! We’re scheduled to move in March 2010, and we need your help! Contact volunteer@srlp.org to find out more.
PRISONER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In October, SRLP’s Prisoner Advisory Committee released the second issue of their newsletter, In Solidarity. Our Prisoner Advisory Committee (PAC) builds the capacity, accountability, and effectiveness of our work by giving imprisoned people who are trans, intersex, gender nonconforming or allies a way to participate in and guide our work while building their skills. The PAC currently has 45 members, and the newsletter mailing party brought in a great group of volunteers. Special thanks to Collective Member Catherine Granum for all her work on this issue!
PUBLIC EDUCATION
This year, we provided training and education to over 1500 community members, lawyers, and service providers. Here are some recent highlights:
- “Transgender Awareness and the Criminal Justice System” Training at Manhattan Criminal Court
- LGBT Immigration Law panel at Temple University Law School
- Trainings at Harm Reduction Coalition, Innocence Project, and the Bronx Community Pride Center
- Prison Healthcare and Reentry Summit at Philadelphia FIGHT
- Know Your Rights Workshop on Name Changes (en Español) at Positive Health Project
Find out more about SRLP’s trainings
PRISONER’S RIGHTS INTERN
This Fall, SRLP welcomed Stefanie Rivera as our Prisoners’ Rights Intern! Stefanie is also a part-time Spanish-language interpreter at SRLP and had presented for SRLP at the Critical Resistance Conference in 2008. The purpose of the internship is to build community organizing skills and analysis of the criminal justice system by attending coalition meetings, working with the Prisoner Pen Pal Project and Prisoner Advisory Committee, conducting outreach, and more. Thank you, Stefanie!
NEW PUBLICATION
We produced a new publication, Tips for Communicating with Trans Clients in Prisoners’ Rights Cases, with input from the SRLP Prisoner Advisory Committee and allied organizations. This publication is a great tool to train attorneys at private firms on trans issues and how to do name changes for trans prisoners.
ACS and OCFS UPDATES
This year, we also continued to work with NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and Office of
Children and Family Services (OCFS)to implement the trans-sensitive policies they approved in 2008. We were
happy to learn that at least three trans youth in OCFS custody have received gender-affirming healthcare from a
provider we recommended, and that ACS has actively recruited LGBT-friendly foster parents. While there is still
room for improvement, we are happy to see concrete results from the policy change we fought for.
In 2009, we worked with over 300 clients. Since our founding in 2002, we have worked with over 1,000 low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming.
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