For Immediate Release
September 18, 2023
Contact:
K Richardson, Communications Manager, [email protected]
Zavé Martohardjono, Digital Communications Strategist, [email protected]
New York, NY
The Transgender Law Center’s Disability Project today launched the Disabled & Deaf Trans People’s Survey (DTPS). The DTPS is a survey created by and for disabled and Deaf trans people to gather and share knowledge about disabled and Deaf trans peoples’ needs, experiences, and priorities. Particularly centering Black disabled and Deaf trans people and trans people of color who are disabled and Deaf, the survey seeks to fill longstanding gaps in research on the perspectives of disabled and Deaf trans community members.
“Disabled and Deaf trans people are strong, diverse, and resilient, and we’re creating opportunities to showcase our experiences. Ableism is woven into our everyday systems, yet we have been overlooked in research and left out of many social justice movements,” said Ericka A. Dixon (they/them), Disability Project Senior National Organizer. “From this data, we will create opportunities for our leadership and momentum to tell our collective story and fight for our rights and needs.”
“The Disabled & Deaf Trans People’s Survey is a groundbreaking, necessary, and powerful piece of work,” said Shelby Chestnut (they/he), Executive Director of Transgender Law Center. “With these stories from disabled and Deaf trans people and community, especially our BIPOC Deaf and disabled trans community, this first-of-a-kind survey will offer trans rights and Disability Justice movements essential insights. The DTPS has the power to shape future advocacy and transform movement spaces.”
The DTPS has three main components: a set of online surveys, story collection, and in-depth interviews with community leaders. The survey is designed to account for different cognitive processes and memory access needs and is available in written and audio English and Spanish, and interpreted into ASL. Videos, audio recordings, and interpretations are available throughout. This survey allows people to share in-depth their specific lived experiences in open-ended responses with options to type or record answers.
“Many access mechanisms and outreach strategies were built into the Disabled & Deaf Trans People’s Survey to recognize, appreciate, and respect the different ways our folks will participate,” said Sebastian Margaret (they/them), Disability Project Senior National Organizer. “ The DTPS intentionally centers access along with engagement with BIPOC and/or low-income trans disabled, Deaf community members—especially those in rural and overlooked locations. We’re hopeful this will reach as many people as possible.”
The DTPS is available for public participation through November 2023.
The Disability Project (DP) at the Transgender Law Center works to embed disability, Deafness, and anti-ableism along with disability justice politics and expertise into LGBTQ, trans, and aligned movement work. The Project breaks isolation, grows connection, and builds the leadership, visibility, and collective power of disability, Deaf, and chronically ill communities.
The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans organization, led by trans Black and Indigenous people and people of color. TLC advocates for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.