Transgender Law Center (TLC), the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures, today unveiled two new video billboard advertisements in New York’s Times Square. The ads, which will run for the length of World Pride in New York and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, demand action on modern-day police violence, state oppression, and murders of Black and brown transgender women.
The billboard advertisements are a part of the #StonewallIsNow campaign, which was also launched today in El Paso, Texas with a rally and march organized by Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, Transgender Law Center, Mijente, El/La Para TransLatinas, and Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee.
Kris Hayashi, executive director of Transgender Law Center, said:
“Corporations, government officials, and groups from all over the world are gathering in New York this week to celebrate the progress we’ve made in the 50 years since Stonewall. But the violence that killed transgender people of color 50 years ago continues to this day, as does our resistance to it. At least eight Black transgender women have been murdered in the U.S. just since May. A transgender migrant died on the first day of Pride Month after weeks in abusive ICE custody. The Trump administration has introduced new regulations attacking transgender people’s access to health care and shelter, critical to our survival. We want the partygoers in New York to understand that they have an obligation to speak up and act. Stonewall never ended. Stonewall is now.”
The two 15-second video spots will run four times an hour, 24 hours a day, on the NASDAQ MarketSite building and Thomson Reuters building, from June 25th through July 2nd. The advertisements link the roots of Pride, including resistance to state and police violence, to the current epidemic of violence targeting Black and brown transgender women.
The spots conclude with a number to text to support the work of Transgender Law Center. In the last few months, Transgender Law Center has:
- Worked with Arianna Lint, founder of Arianna’s Center in South Florida and a national advisory board member for TLC’s Positively Trans program, in releasing a groundbreaking report on needs and conditions for transgender and gender nonconforming people living with HIV in South Florida.
- Launched ProtectTransHealth.org with the National Center for Transgender Equality to fight back against a Trump administration proposed rule change that would give license to discriminate trans people accessing health care.
- Along with the Law Office of R. Andrew Free filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties demanding the release of any and all documents about Roxsana Hernandez while in ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody.
- Partnered with Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project and Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement in centering LGBTQ+ migrants, most recently hosting a congressional briefing with Rep. Kennedy’s office.
- In collaboration with Southerners On New Ground (SONG), through their joint TLC@SONG program, released the findings of their 2017 survey of transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming (TGNC) Southerners — The Grapevine: A Southern Trans Report.