January 20, 2021
Hello Dear and Beautiful Siblings-
Today is a day full of emotions for many of our community members across the country. We are sending you all love and healing. Many of us are relieved, many of us skeptical, many of us still afraid. We do not know what these next 4 years will hold for our country and our community, but we can hope that it is nowhere near as terrifying as the last 4 years of the last administration.
Despite all of this, we know that our community is resilient. We have endured anti-trans policies, rhetoric, and actions that have truly harmed us in different ways. But we are still here, fighting and resisting. We will continue to be here and exist in a system that for centuries has marginalized us. We know that the change that we all want is not going to come as fast as we want it. We hope that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will make an intentional investment in the lives of transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex (TGI) people. Our issues have remained stagnant for many years and it is time for us to continue to organize to ensure the lives of TGI people continue to be at the forefront. We need to make sure that we continue to fight to eliminate houselessness, poverty, and violence, and that we demand opportunities for us to continue to thrive and live dignified lives.
We are hopeful with the appointment of Dr. Rachel Levine as the Assistant Health Secretary that our TGI communities will continue to be uplifted in decision-making positions and hope she is not the only Trans person appointed. We will be watching and waiting for action and change because we know that the same faces in high places does not equate to an end in oppression. We must continue to challenge this administration to make decisions with the communities they have marginalized for centuries. That means uplifting Black, Indigenous, trans, queer, poor, and disabled people of color.
Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of The TransLatin@ Coalition says, “We are hopeful for the future. Nonetheless, as an organization, we are going to continue to fight for the liberation of our peoples by making sure that we demand our local, state and federal elected officials to invest in trans lives and to make TGI people a priority. We cannot be complacent regardless of who sits in office. We must continue to push for the social services and the empowerment that we need to change our position in our society and for our community to have a better quality of life.”
On this inauguration day and a new administration, we commit to continue pushing for the equity in our society that TGI people deserve! We commit to pushing for the following actions and policy change at local, state, and federal levels. We see the possibilities with more opportunities for change with the Biden-Harris administration. That is why we recognize that as an organization and as a community, we do not rest until the lives of TGI people are recognized as equal in this country. We live in a country that promises “all Americans their unalienable rights to, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." As TGI people, we must continue to fight for our unalienable rights, now more than ever!
We urge the Biden-Harris administration to immediately start eliminating the wrongdoings that TGI communities have endured for centuries. We urgently request that TGI people have:
COVID-19 Pandemic Response: The social issues of our community have been set further behind by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has exacerbated the many already existing structural barriers that have kept our people marginalized. There have not been adequate emergency responses that allowed our community to survive and thrive throughout this global pandemic. There is a need for safe shelter and housing for TGI people, emergency financial assistance, and holistic health services that allow for our community to get the care we deserve.
Educational Access: TGI people deserve the opportunity to have access to an equitable education. We need to eliminate all types of discrimination that TGI people face in academic institutions and settings that prevent us from achieving our academic goals. Educational Access refers to the ability of TGI people to participate and be reflected in our education system (primary, secondary, and higher education), specifically within school and campus curriculum requirements & policy protections.
Research Justice: There must be specific research in all aspects of our lives to highlight the specific needs of TGI people. Research must focus on addressing the multiple needs of our community. Research must be conducted in an ethical way using community participatory research, and in a way that highlights the resiliency of TGI people and in which TGI people also have the opportunity to be the architects to address the disparities in our communities.
Economic Stability: TGI people are one of the poorest populations in this country and around the world. We urge the Biden-Harris administration to ensure that there is an intentional investment in the lives of TGI people by allocating resources for pilot projects that will create pipelines for TGI people to build our economic power and be able to obtain wealth. As we know, many members of our community continue to face discrimination in employment settings, this requires that pipelines to employment are created,led by TGI led organizations. These include but are not limited to: fiscal and financial literacy, understanding stocks and have the opportunity to be granted funds to invest in the stock market, land acquisition and emergency and disaster planning (including pandemics) so that our community is not set further behind than we already are.
Housing Equity: Housing Equity refers to equitable opportunities to land acquisition and housing without discrimination, harassment, or high cost. We urge the Biden-Harris administration to create programs within HUD to provide affordable housing to TGI people across the nation and provide funding to TGI led organizations. It is important that the elimination of the monopoly of the Housing Industrial Complex is reformed and that funding opportunities are directly provided to TGI led organizations.
Holistic, Accessible, & Universal Health Care: Holistic healthcare ensures the inclusion of TGI health care needs in the medical field, such as gender-affirming and dysphoria resources and services. Accessible health care accounts for geographic location, transportation, and cost, while universal health care ensures that health care is available to all, not only selected populations. We urge the Biden-Harris administration to understand the Holistic Health means supporting our people to heal from the historical trauma that we have endured and support for all of us to build a healthy TGI community, supporting our physical, mental and spiritual health, and invest in TGI led organizations that have contributed and will continue to contribute to building healthy TGI people across the United States.
Ending Policing, State Violence & Criminalization: Policing and criminalization are the most violent issues our communities experience and require the most accountability. Policing and criminalization refer to the violent ways in which law enforcement and criminal justice systems overtly monitor and demonize TGI communities. This violence is perpetrated and often allowed, through policies and field surveillance by entities meant to protect us (i.e. the government and law enforcement). Policy in this field is necessary to challenge power structures currently causing harm and ensure accountability for state violence. Instead of incarceration, TGI people should have the ability to have access to programs that will support for us to learn different abilities that will help us gain and access adequate resources that will help us live dignified lives
Decriminalizing Migration & Global Trans Rights: TGI communities should be free to migrate without fear of government terrorism, especially when escaping government violence in other countries. Many TGI people flee their country of origin and are forced into international populations. Regardless of where we live and choose to migrate, our freedom to access protection is a divine right and we pursue global TGI rights under this truth. All TGI people should have the right and the ability to request asylum if that is what they need to do to have a better quality of life.
Gender Justice & Identity Autonomy: Gender justice refers to actively challenging the violence, discrimination, and marginalization directly tied to gender identity and expression. Much of the violence faced by TGI communities is directly tied to systemic oppression; policies and permitted social behavior that targets and excludes our existence. Society holds a very narrow view of gender and systems are designed based on this ideology; this narrow ideology perpetuates the exclusion of TGI people and prevents us from thriving as human beings. We urge the Biden-Harris administration to create a national policy that reflects TGI people’s autonomy to live authentically without objection to our truth and existence. We hope that in the very near future, our new elected President will send a message that will highlight his commitment to all peoples in which this message will be specific as to how our collective requests will be addressed and there will be a clear direction about his commitment to include TGI people for us to achieve our unalienable rights.
May today be a reminder to our communities that nice words should not continue to be empty promises as it is said: “Actions speak louder than words.”
Please take care of yourselves and one another today, we must continue to protect and fight for one another.
Sincerely,
The TransLatin@ Coalition
*Please read more about our #TransPolicyAgenda and recommendations HERE.*
