DC Trans Coalition

We have a new home on the web. Please visit us at http://dctranscoalition.wordpress.com for up-to-date info and news.

DCTC will have a wonderfully fun table at the Capital Pride Festival this Sunday.  Be sure to stop by to check out what we've been up to, pick up one of our Know Your Rights brochures, and snag one of our snazzy new buttons.  We'll be there all day!

Location:  Pennsylvania Avenue NW at 7th Street.

Date:  Sunday, June 14, 11am-6pm.

Presented by the DC Queer Alliance

JUST ONE OF THE GUYS:
TRANS MEN’S INCLUSION, ADVOCACY AND EMPOWERMENT WITHIN THE GAY, BI AND QUEER MEN’S HEALTH MOVEMENT

7PM, JUNE 10 2009@WHITMAN-WALKER CLINIC

DO YOU CARE ABOUT GAY, BI & QUEER TRANS MEN’S HEALTH?

SO DO WE!

Join us in putting together the District’s first community meeting discussing the inclusion, advocacy and
empowerment of gay, bi & queer trans men within the greater gay, bi & queer men's health movement.

Date of Event: June 10, 2009 @ the Whitman-Walker Clinic, 7 pm (1701 14th Street, NW – Near U-Street Carodzo Metro). Contact dcqueerallience@gmail.com for more information.

Today, DCTC sent the following letter to members of the DC Council.  Click here to find your ward representative, then add the addresses of the Chairman and all the at-large members, and drop them a line supporting our requests.

May 6, 2009

Dear Council Member:

As you continue your deliberations with regard to the fiscal year 2010 budget, we wanted to update you on our activities and raise a few general issues regarding DC’s Human Rights Act with you.

As you well know, we have spent much of the past year working against and then with the Department of Corrections and the Office of the Attorney General to bring DC correctional facilities in line with the DC Human Rights Act. After our February correspondence with you, Council Member Graham sent a letter to Attorney General Peter Nickles asking specific questions about how the DOC’s new policy will be implemented. To date, there has been no response from the attorney general, and our community partners have informed us that no visible changes have yet taken place in the DOC’s treatment of transgender inmates. We thus consider it imperative that the new policy is implemented at once, and that a clear plan for evaluating its efficacy is put in place.

In an earlier campaign, the DCTC worked with the Metropolitan Police Department to obtain an order from Chief Cathy Lanier regarding the proper treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals upon contact with the police. That order was issued in late 2007. Given that several members of our community have reported that police treatment has not improved in that time, we are beginning to work with MPD officials to review their existing training programs regarding the treatment of transgender individuals, and will recommend to them what changes may be necessary to ensure better compliance with the chief’s order. We appreciate your continued willingness to support us in these efforts.

You have also heard recently from individuals and organizations in the community advocating for a greater effort at combating employment discrimination against transgender individuals both within the District government and among private businesses. Unemployment and underemployment is a rampant problem within the transgender community, and is a far more subtle form of discrimination than instances of blatant mistreatment may suggest. Unfortunately though, the data available to the District’s Office of Human Rights, based on complaints filed, is clearly unreliable. We believe that instances of trans-bias in employment decisions are far greater than what has been documented in formal processes. The same holds true with problems with police, corrections officials, fire and emergency medical responders, healthcare and housing providers, and a whole range of other public service providers. This is why our primary focus in the coming year will be to educate members of the community on their rights under District law, and to urge and facilitate far more reporting of violations of the Human Rights Act.

We would expect the full support of the Council in ensuring that the District’s laws are enforced, and ask that appropriate resources be made available to District agencies to ensure this is the case. In addition, as the examples noted here illustrate, it is essential that the Council continue to exercise oversight and ensure accountability among District agencies and programs, as the rights protected under the Human Rights Act will only be realized if they are aggressively defended.

Yours sincerely,

DC Trans Coalition

For Immediate Release: April 20^th, 2009

Contact:  Rhodes Perry, (646) 610-1161

DC Trans Coalition Honored with Distinguished Service Award
“We are Grateful for this recognition” says group

Washington, DC - On Wednesday, April 22^nd the DC Trans Coalition (DCTC) will receive the Distinguished Service Award at the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance’s (GLAA) 38^th Anniversary Reception. Since its founding in 2005, the DCTC has organized community members to fight for the human rights of and equal access for transgender and gender diverse people in the District of Columbia.

After nearly five years, the DCTC has led and won a variety of critical grassroots campaigns that have improved the lives of many community members. The first and arguably most important victory involved lobbying the DC Council to unanimously pass expanded protections to the city’s Human Rights Act, which included gender identity or expression in 2005. The group then helped inform regulations that were eventually passed in 2006 to strengthen the implementation of this law. Since that time, the DCTC has continued to launch and win critical campaigns, ensuring better enforcement of the Human Rights Act. Several notable campaign victories include:

1. DMV Policy Change. In 2006, the DCTC won a new policy from the DMV on changing the gender marker on DC-issued ID cards. The new form can be signed by a doctor, counselor, or social worker, and requires no additional evidence, and information about a gender change will remain confidential under this policy.
2. MPD General Order. In 2007, the DCTC won a new police order, issued by D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier directing her officers on how to deal respectfully with transgender people. The order sets the highest standards in the nation.
3. Homeless Shelter Policy. In 2007, worked with D.C.’s Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness to finalize and implement a new shelter policy mandating that homeless transgender individuals should be treated according to their self-identified gender identity, housed accordingly, protected from harassment or discrimination, and treated with respect – it serves as a guideline for how all other agencies should treat transgender clients.
4. OHR Factsheet. In 2007, worked with OHR on developing a factsheet on how to comply with the recent gender identity and expression legal protections and continue to help educate area businesses on what these protections mean for them, their employees and their patrons.

The group recently organized a broad coalition of local and national groups in response to a draft rulemaking from the DC Office of the Attorney General which would have provided what amounted to an exemption for the DC Department of Corrections (DOC) from the provisions of the DC Human Rights Act prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or expression. Those efforts led to months of negotiations and an improved policy regarding the placement and treatment of transgender detainees in DOC custody, though the coalition’s advocacy and vigilance continue.

GLAA is honoring DCTC for this most recent effort. The DCTC continues to launch and win key campaigns to ensure the proper enforcement of the DC Human Rights Act in an effort to overcome gender-based oppression by organizing the community around these issues. The group is proud to showcase its work at GLAA’s 38^th Anniversary Reception amongst so many other community leaders.

“We are honored to receive this award from GLAA, particularly since such work is often overlooked within the broader LGBT community. The victories we have won and the resulting growth of community shows how much can be accomplished with passion, fair-minded leadership, and ongoing dedication, and we are grateful for this recognition.” said Sadie Baker, who will accept the award on behalf of the DCTC.

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The DC Trans Coalition (DCTC) is a grassroots community-based organization dedicated to fighting for the human rights of and equal access for transgender and gender-diverse people in the District of Columbia.