Community fights to stop police killings of disabled people

The community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, held a vigil and march on April 4 to continue the fight for justice for Saheed Vassell and his family. They marked the year anniversary of Vassell’s killing by police, and protested the recent announcement by State Attorney General Letitia James that she will not seek indictments against the officers responsible for his death.

NYC conference on feminism empowers working-class and poor women

“Seventy percent of this nation’s poor are women and children,” voiced Kerbie Joseph of the No New Jails Coalition in a fiery opening of the “Feminism for the 99%” conference held March 23 in New York City. “Our challenge in the midst of a coordinated offensive against women,” she said, “is not only react but also to go on the offensive and truly think about what we need to build a movement that can win.”

Refusing to Accept Erasure

The threatened action by the Trump administration is widely viewed as an effort by social conservatives to erase transgender identity in federal policy and even law. A potential showdown at the Supreme Court — with a newly solidified conservative majority — will determine whether the gains in transgender rights won in many lower federal courts will be sustained or reversed.

The trans and non-binary community is also facing an epidemic of lethal violence, the extent of which can only be estimated. According to a report out this week from the Human Rights Campaign, at least 128 transgender people, the vast majority trans women of color, have been murdered in the US over the past five years. 2017 was the deadliest year on record, with 29 murders documented. To date this year, 22 killings have been recorded.

7 Organizations to Support That Aren’t the Homophobic Salvation Army

Few images are more iconically Yuletide than a Salvation Army Santa ringing their bell on the street, collecting money for the homeless during the holiday season. But reports of the organization's alleged anti-LGBTQ policies have us feeling pretty Grinchy. Fox News reported that Salvation Army workers “have been told to stop posting their opinions about gay marriage, abortion, or anything political on social media because it might reflect poorly on the organization.”

Here's your yearly reminder to avoid donating to the Salvation Army this holiday season

With December just around the corner, I have started to see those red Salvation Army donation buckets again. While in general, donating to the less fortunate is a lovely thing to do during the holiday season, I would personally avoid doing so with the Salvation Army.

Though the Salvation Army has denied the fact they hold anti-LGBTI stances, their actions definitely speak louder than words.

How to Help Transgender People Fight the Trump Administration's New Policy Memo

In the Trump administration’s latest attack on the transgender community, the Department of Health and Human Services is seeking, under Title IX, to legally define gender as a biological condition determined by a person’s genitalia at birth, according to an October 21 New York Times report on a memo obtained by the paper. (Title IX is the law that prevents gender-based discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds.)

As noted by the Center for American Progress, the Obama administration made strides toward trans-affirming policies. A broad policy of nondiscrimination in federal programs allowed transgender people — who number somewhere between 1 million and 1.4 million in the United States — to not be discriminated against in places like schools and doctors’ offices. The Trump administration has undone advancements in schools, prisons, and homeless shelters.

The publication of the Times article sparked rallies, like the one in New York City on October 21. Whether or not you take to the streets, here are some actionable ways you can support the transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming community after this latest attack.