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From Susan's Place Transgender Wiki

The Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex (TGI) Justice Project's mission is to challenge and end the human rights abuses committed against transgender, gender variant/genderqueer and intersex (TGI) people in California prisons and beyond.

Recognizing that poverty borne from profound and pervasive discrimination and marginalization of TGI people is a major underlying cause of why TGI people end up in prison, TGIJP addresses human rights abuses against TGI prisoners through strategies that effect systemic change. Thus, TGIJP uses innovative combinations of direct services and community organizing to support the leadership development and capacity building of the TGI communities, and especially of TGI prisoners and former prisoners.

Because of the profound and complex impact the prison industrial complex has had on the disabled, poor communities, communities of color and TGI communities, TGIJP operates at the intersections of race, gender, sex, class, sexual orientation, intersexuality, and ability, among others. In doing this work, TGIJP prioritizes and centralizes the wisdom and leadership of TGI prisoners and former prisoners.

[edit] Programs

Legal Services & Advocacy

• Alternative Sentencing Support

To end the abuses and discrimination that TGI people experience in prisons and jails, we seek to decrease the number of TGI people going into jail or prison by diverting them into needed health, social and economic services, as alternatives to imprisonment.

• Legal Advice & Referrals for Prisoners

TGIJP also provides legal advice and referrals to defend the human rights and dignity of TGI people who are experiencing abuse, discrimination and harassment in prison due to their gender and/or intersex status.

• International Human Rights Advocacy

We participate in United Nations reviews of the human rights record of the U.S., and educate both the international community and our home communities about our rights under international human rights laws. We bring these rights home by educating our communities on how to leverage these rights in their local activism.

• Grassroots Policy Advocacy

We support transgender currentand former prisoners to advocate for policy changes to improve conditions of confinement, and to design and implement alternatives to the Prison Industrial Complex. This work makes us one of the leading experts in the country on issues facing transgender people in prisons.

Community Organizing & Leadership Development

To address the root causes of the human rights abuses against TGI people, we support projects that develop the leadership capacity of TGI communities, especially TGI prisoners and former prisoners. We correspond and visit with TGI people in prison, and publish a monthly newsletter to facilitate coordination among TGI people organizing in prison. We also educate the public about the failures of the Prison Industrial Complex, and work with our allies to build community-based alternatives to have real safety in our lives. We are currently developing a political education and skills-building internship program for formerly imprisoned transgender women of color. All our organizing and base-building work is led by and for TGI people inside and out of prison.

Building A Movement

• Transforming Justice Coalition

We are one of the key sponsors of the national Transforming Justice Coalition, made up of organizations and individuals dedicated to promoting the leadership of former and current TGI prisoners. Following the groundbreaking Transforming Justice conference in 2007, this coalition will help build a national movement for short-term and long-term solutions to the human rights crisis facing transgender and gender variant communities today. Visit http://www.transformingjustice.org for more information.

[edit] External links

• The TGI Justice Project's home page

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