Repeal the “WalkingWhileTrans” Ban Should be Part of the Police Accountability Package

Hon. Andrew M Cuomo
Governor, State of New York
New York State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Hon. Carl Heastie Speaker
New York State Assembly
Legislative Office Building, Room 932
Albany, NY 12247

Hon. Andrea Stewart-Cousins
New York State Senate
Legislative Office Building, Room 907
Albany, NY 12247

Re: Repeal the “WalkingWhileTrans” Ban Should be Part of the Police Accountability Package

Dear Governor Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins:

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to pass and sign into law S2253 (Hoylman) / A654 (Paulin) when the New York State Legislature reconvenes next week. Black and Brown communities are angry, frustrated and enraged with the continuous failure of the State to hold police accountable for misconduct, abuse, and violence. As we say their names and mourn the loss of Tony McDade, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, and the many more we have lost to police murders, we are reminded that these acts of violence against Black and Brown communities do not happen in a vacuum. They are a product of a system that emboldens police violence by turning a blind eye to police harassment and profiling of Black and Brown communities, not just Black and Brown cis men, but also cis and trans women, trans men, and gender non-conforming (GNC) people on a daily basis. They are also part of a system that has no transparent process of accountability to provide justice and healing for communities that have been harmed for generations.

Now, more than ever, we need the New York State Legislature to repeal laws that enable profiling, police harassment, sexual violence, and other forms of police violence against our Black and Brown communities and to pass measures that will hold law enforcement officers accountable. It is imperative that as the state considers police accountability measures they do so with a gender analysis that includes the ways Black cis and trans women, trans men, and GNC people experience police violence as well.

Black cis and trans women, trans men and GNC communities have a long history of being profiled for gender expression by laws such as P.L. 240.37. This unconstitutional statute has enabled police to stop and harass TGNC communities for having the audacity to exist in public spaces for four decades.

We have now begun Pride Month, which recognizes the contributions of Black and Brown trans women in resisting police violence. Our communities, however, are still targeted for being who they are. We mourn the loss of Larry Kramer, who along with ACT UP New York called for us to ACT UP and fight back. The District Attorneys of Brooklyn, Manhattan , The Bronx , and Queens have stopped prosecuting P.L. 240.37 charges. Finally, on May 7 at an LGBTQ virtual day of action Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul agreed that “we have to repeal the ban on walking while trans.” New York State leadership is in agreement. If there was ever a need for political courage, this is it. Elected officials need to move beyond saying their names and begin to use their power to change the laws that enable police terror in Black and Brown communities. We ask you now to act. Help us fight back against systemic racism and gender-based violence.

Signed,

Act Up Against COVID19

ACT UP NY

Advocating Opportunity

Alliance for Positive Health

Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (UAW 2325)

Athlete Ally

AVAC

Bannon Consulting Services

Black and Pink

Black and Pink NYC

Black Trans News LLC

Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100)

Brooklyn Community Bail Fund

Brooklyn Community Pride Center

Brooklyn Defender Services

Brooklyn Law School Criminal Defense & Advocacy Clinic

Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC)

Callen Lorde Community Health Center

Center for Community Alternatives

Center for Constitutional Rights

Counter Narrative Project (CNP)

Drug Policy Alliance

Equality New York

Empire Justice Center

Exploitation Intervention Project

Exponents

Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR)

GAPIMNY —Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders

Gays Against Guns

Gay Liberation Front -NYC

Gender Equality New York (GENY)

G.L.I.T.S Inc.

GMHC

Harm Reduction Coalition

Hispanic Health Network

Housing Works

Human Rights Campaign

Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club

Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice

Immigrant Defense Project

JustLeadershipUSA

Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn

Lambda Legal

Latino Commission on AIDS

Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens

LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York

Make the Road New York

Marsha P Johnson Institute

National Association of Social Workers - NYC

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

National Equality Action Team

National Trans Bar Association

Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem

New York Anti-Trafficking Network

New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP)

New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)

New York County Defender Services

New York Immigration Coalition

New York State Harm Reduction Association

New York Transgender Advocacy Group

New Hour

Osborne Association

Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York

PFY - Division of Long Island Crisis Center

HW - Positive Health Project

Princess Janae Place Inc.

Positive Women’s Network-USA

Queeramisu

Queerocracy

Reclaim Pride Coalition/Queer Liberation March

Reframe Health and Justice

Safe Horizon

SAGE USA

Sex Workers Project - Baltimore

SOAR Institute

Stonewall Community Development Corporation

Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC

Sylvia Rivera Law Project

The Bronx Defenders

The Ackerman Institute’s Gender & Family Project

The Center for HIV Law and Policy

The Legal Aid Society

The LOFT LGBT Community Center

Transgender Equity Consulting

Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF)

Translatinx Network

Treatment Action Group

Transgender Family Program (CHN)

United States People living with HIV Caucus

VOCAL-NY

Woodhull Freedom Foundation

Worth Rises

cc: Hon. Tremaine Wright, Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Asian Legislative Caucus

Hon. Brad Hoylman

Hon. Amy Paulin

Hon. Jamaal Bailey, Chair of Senate Codes Committee

Hon. Joseph Lentol, Chair of Assembly Codes Committee