EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Police Brutality after SRLP benefit

FYI: Sylvia Rivera Law Project is a collective-run organization/law firm that serves the transgender and gender non conforming communities of color in NYC. I was at the benefit, but skipped out on the afterparty. The benefit itself felt a lot like a family reunion instead of the kind of pretentious formality that you usually expect from fundraisers.

As Dean Spade, the lead founder of SRLP, said last night in his speech, "[Trans and gender non conforming people] are told we cannot exist, that we are doing the impossible." Last night, hundreds of "impossibilities" gathered to celebrate our victories and our communities, and the NYPD saw this as an opportunity to use violence and fear to slow our movement. This is certainly a reaffirmation for me that we cannot rest until we end our government's war on queers, trans people, and people of color. Let's do our best to support these folks, I'll keep you posted as more info comes out.

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PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

At the Sylvia Rivera Law Project's after-party following its fifth
anniversary celebration last night, two members of the community were
violently arrested and others were pepper sprayed by police without
warning or cause. The two folks who were arrested remain in police
custody and should be arraigned tomorrow. (More details of the
incident can be found below in the press release.)

We ask that people show up tomorrow, Thursday, starting at 9:30am and
continuing throughout the day to call for the immediate release of and
the dropping of charges against the people who were arrested. The
arraignment court rooms are at 100 Centre St (Directions: No. 4 or 5
train to Brooklyn Bridge Station; No. 6 train, N, R or C train to
Canal Street; No. 1 train to Franklin Street; M1, M6 and M15 bus lines
are nearby. 100 Centre Street is one block north of Worth Street,
three blocks south of Canal Street.) Ask for directions to the
arraignment rooms at the info desk when you enter.

For more information or to receive updates via email or text message,
contact Jack at jack@srlp.org, who should be at court and have email
access throughout the day.


PRESS RELEASE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Jack Aponte (jack@srlp.org, 347-247-1526)
Naomi Clark (naomi@srlp.org, 917-907-4870)


Police Brutality Strikes Fifth Anniversary of Sylvia Rivera Law Project

NEW YORK - On the night of Wednesday, September 26, officers from the
9th Precinct of the New York Police Department attacked without
provocation members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and of its
community. Two of our community members were violently arrested, and
others were pepper sprayed in the face without warning or cause.

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (www.srlp.org) is an organization that
works on behalf of low-income people of color who are transgender,
gender non-conforming, or intersex, providing free legal services and
advocacy among many other initiatives. On Wednesday night, the Sylvia
Rivera Law Project was celebrating its fifth anniversary with a
celebration and fundraising event at a bar in the East Village.

A group of our community members, consisting largely of queer and
transgender people of color, witnessed two officers attempting to
detain a young Black man outside of the bar. Several of our community
members asked the officers why they were making the arrest and using
excessive force. Despite the fact that our community was on the
sidewalk, gathered peacefully and not obstructing foot traffic, the
NYPD chose to forcefully grab two people and arrested them. Without
warning, an officer then sprayed pepper spray across the group in a
wide arc, temporarily blinding many and causing vomiting and intense
pain.

"This is the sort of all-too-common police violence and overreaction
towards people of color that happens all the time," said Dean Spade,
founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. "It's ironic that we were
celebrating the work of an organization that specifically opposes
state violence against marginalized communities, and we experienced a
police attack at our celebration."

"We are outraged, and demand that our community members be released
and the police be held accountable for unnecessary use of excessive
force and falsely arresting people," Spade continued.

Damaris Reyes is executive director of GOLES, an organization working
to preserve the Lower East Side. She commented, "I'm extremely
concerned and disappointed by the 9th Precinct's response to the
situation and how it escalated into violence. This kind of aggressive
behavior doesn't do them any good in community-police relations."

Supporters will be gathering at 100 Centre Street tomorrow, where the
two community members will be arraigned. The community calls for
charges to be dropped and to demand the immediate release of those
arrested.

- END -


On Saturday at 7 PM in Washington Square Park, there will be a protest organized by the Radical Homosexual Agenda ( http:www.radicalhomosexual

agenda.org ) to protest Christine Quinn and the NYC government's new laws about protest permits. I won't be able to go (I'm out of town this weekend), but it would be great to have some New School presence there.

UPDATE:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Police Brutality Strikes Fifth Anniversary of Sylvia Rivera Law Project

Contacts:
Jack Aponte jack (AT) srlp (DOT) org
Naomi Clark naomi (AT) srlp (DOT) org

UPDATE: 8:30pm Thursday 9/27

Reggie and Ileana have just been released from police custody! The DA
declined prosecution, which means that no charges are being pressed. They
are free and clear, and are now getting the support they need from their
community - in person.

We are all thrilled by this result, the only truly just outcome after a
long night and day of injustice. Thank you to everyone who has helped out
and expressed support, including all of the allied organizations, fellow
activists, community members and councilpeople who stepped up to support
us.

Although they have thankfully been released, our work around this incident
is not finished. Now it is time to hold the police accountable for the
unnecessary force and community targeting that occurred last night, and
work so that no more incidents like this happen again to our community. We
will keep you all posted as to our next steps and ways to plug in.

UPDATE: 7:15pm Thursday 9/27
from the office of Rosie Mendez:

City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez asked me to inform you that she has spoken
the Manhattan DA regarding this matter. As of about 6:00 PM she was told
that the two arrested persons will be released shortly. The DA is
assessing the possibility of dropping the charges completely, but this is
not yet certain. Rosie herself wrote a letter to the DA asking for the
charges to be dropped.

She has also been in contact with the other three out LGBT downtown
elected officials - NYS Senator Duane, NYS Assemblymember Glick and NYC
Council Speaker Quinn. All have contacted the DA and expressed their
concern over the incident and their interest in seeing the arrested
persons released as quickly as possible.

Minutes! Part Three! 9/27

O.P.E.N. Minutes 09/26/07

Wednesday 5PM

Attendance: Harper, Kaleb, Natalia, Josie, David, Kate, Anthony, Peter, Eliza, Lucas, Allan, Conrad, Sandy

Website: www.opennewschool.blogspot.com

Updates

1) “But, I’m A Cheerleader”

a. We have the Student Activities Space Conference Room in the 55W 13^th St. Thursday, Oct 18^th from 6:15 – 8:45PM meaning we could start at around 6:30 and be out by 8:30 so that we can have some time to set up and clean up.

To do List

-Allan will follow up with Kate to talk about purchasing food/materials for the event

-Kaleb will offer his cupcake making abilities as long as someone offers their oven. Allan would be more than willing to if he wasn’t so busy on Thursday afternoons. Can anyone else volunteer their oven for that day?

-Harper will follow up with Babeland about getting vibrators for the event.

-Allan will also be in charge of coming up with a flyer for the event to begin distributing two weeks prior (early October).

2) “Trannyfags”

a. Harper told us that Marty is more than willing to stop by the school for a discussion about “Trannyfags.”

To do List

- Harper will fill out a Program Registration Form for the event and will coordinate it alongside Sandy.

3) National Coming Out Day

a. “Out at Work”

a. Career Services is planning/hosting an employer panel that will discuss the topic of being a person of the GBLTQQ community in the workplace. Our job here is to spread the word on behalf of them so that we can get as many people as possible to go.

b. “Mic in the courtyard”

a. Conrad suggested the idea of having a microphone where people can walk up to it and tell their coming out story. In addition to tabling, this could be a good way of advertising our group as well as for the “But, I’m a Cheerleader” movie screening the week after.

To Do List

-Allan will contact Guinevere about the possibility of doing something like that in the Lang courtyard as well as to inquire about whether we’d be violating any noise policies.

-Lucas, Allan, and Eliza will help to coordinate the Mic portion of the day.

Potential Upcoming events

1) Sarah Lawrence Visits

To Do List

-Harper will keep us posted on upcoming Queer events up at Sarah Lawrence that we could attend as a group.

2) CUNY Queer Conference

To do List

-Harper and Allan will keep up with the going ons with this event as it is an all inclusive day long conference for all GBLTQQ college students in the NYC area.

3) World AIDS Day

a. Tumbler Blog

i. Kate had an idea of doing a building block of blogs that highlight AIDS issues.

b. Pamphlets/Fact Campaign

i. It was suggested that we disseminate shocking information about current AIDS statistics from around the world and probably even the New School. Theme possible: New School & AIDS

c. Discussion: “Sex Positive In Light of AIDS”

i. Peter brought up a really good point in stating that students probably go through AIDS fatigue in that most campaigns focus mostly on the negative aspects of the disease.

ii. It is entirely possible to highlight how well people our age have been dealing with the disease, despite the connotation of death alongside it.

d. AIDS Art Gallery

i. Allan will be in contact with Ashley Grosso, a grad student whose work focused on art that dealt with AIDS issues.

To Do List

-Anthony and Peter will help to coordinate a discussion as opposed to a panel discussion or a movie screening.

-Allan will follow up with Ashley about possibly beginning the paperwork for the event in terms of the Art Gallery.

That is all for now, again please check out our blog that will soon be filled with events of interest to save email space.

Out meeting will be next Wednesday, Oct 3^rd at 5PM in the Lang Café.

If possible, we might host a meeting in Kate’s apartment which is over on 13^th ST and 1^st Ave.

In solidarity,

Allan

Secretary

O.P.E.N.

Websites of interest

1. www.gaycenter.org

2. www.nyu.edu/csgs/

3. www.hrc.org

Events of interest

1. "Parade Without A Permit" -- Washington Square Park @7PM. Protest against the newly formed NYPD parading laws which require gatherings of larger than 50 people to pass through the NYPD first. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD BY ATTENDING THIS EVENT! But be smart to avoid getting arrested.

2. 02 October 2007 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

The Writing Program at The New School presents Carrie Brownstein, a guitarist and singer in the band Sleater-Kinney, who is also a writer. Brownstein will read some of her recent writing and talk about music and culture. Greil Marcus, faculty member of the Writing Program, moderates this event.

Location:

The New School, 66 West 12th Street, room 510

Admission:

$5; free to all students and New School faculty, staff, and alumni with ID

Box Office Information:

In person purchases can be made at The New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, main floor, Monday- Friday 1:00-7:00 p.m.

Second Meeting Minutes! 9 / 19

Minutes

09/19/2007, 5PM Lang Café

Present: Harper, Lucas, Anthony, Kaleb, Josie, and Allan

Items Discussed

1. “But I’m A Cheerleader”
1. Details: We definitely have a time, place, and date for now. Thursday, September 27^th from 6PM – 8:30PM in the 8 E. 16^th ST Building in room 1106.
2. We talked about the possibility of moving the event to the following Thursday in hopes to get a better space. Allan will follow up with Kate from the OSDA to also find out about the budget for the event.
3. Harper will get a chance to talk to Babeland about probably getting free vibratos.
2. “Trannyfags”
1. Harper has contacted Morty Diamond, but zshe hasn’t replied yet.
3. Monthly Movie nights
1. Anthony suggested that we have movie nights once a month.
2. We’ll gauge the success partially by the turnout for “But, I’m a Cheerleader.”
4. Dinner with Sarah Lawrence
1. Harper will be in charge of trying to coordinate a dinner to meet with the LGBTQQ organization there.
2. Lucas said that he was invited to do a drag performance at Sarah Lawrence as well so it might be a way for us to meet people over there as well if we can go as a group.
5. World AIDS Day
1. We’d still want to do something for that day, but we just haven’t come up with any ideas that don’t involve a movie night.
2. As I’m typing this, I just remembered that we tried to do an Art Gallery showcasing the senior work of a current grad student, Ashley Grosso. Allan will contact her to coordinate and see if something like that could be re-attempted for this year. Probably would happen on December 1^st which is a Saturday or maybe November 29^th a Thursday night?
6. Panel Discussion – Queer Body Image
1. Anthony suggested that we do such an event. We’ll brainstorm some ideas for panelists in upcoming meetings.
7. Recognition Packet from the OSDA
1. Briefly reviewed our goals and mission of the group prior to submission to the OSDA.
2. The only parts that we are still missing are a faculty advisor’s signature as well as more signatures for members list. Allan will be carrying around the packet with him so if you want to stop by and add more numbers to our list, email him (Robla792@newschool.edu)
8. New Website!
1. Allan officially made a website for the group which is located at www.opennewschool.blogspot.com
2. Additionally, if anyone is interested in finding out more information of the going ons for other student orgs, check out www.newschoolforasocialrevolution.blogspot.com
9. Appointment of new officers for the group
1. Conrad Chu becoming our new faculty advisor.

i. Prof. Chu wasn’t able to find the group, but will try and make it to next week’s meeting (TBA)

2. Congratulations to Josie for being our Publicity Chair for the group!
9. Ideas for events next semester / Event Ideas for Collaboration
1. Pamphlet distribution / Tabling for the Elections in the spring! Get a way to get information to the student body of the stances of various politicians on all sorts of issues beyond the LGBTQQ community.
2. Health Series Workshops
1. Coordinate with other student organizations on having health workshops that address various concerns in multiple and sometimes overlapping group issues.
3. Trans Prom @ the LGBTQQ Center on 13^th ST

Next meeting TBA

Also, I forgot to mention this during the meeting, but we need someone to volunteer to attend an event tomorrow from 5:30 – 6:30PM at the Student Activity Space at the 55 West 13^th ST building. I sent out an email to Harper, Sandy, Josie, and Melissa (Kaleb I don’t have your email, do you think you can reply back to this email so I can add it to the list?). If there’s anyone else who would be able to attend on our behalf we’d greatly appreciate it!

Minutes 9/12/07

O.P.E.N. Minutes 09/11/07 – 4:30PM

Present: Allan, Harper, Kaleb, Josie, David, Sandy, Melissa, & Richenda

1. Introductions
2. Ideas for Events this semester
1. Harper suggested that since he works for Babeland that it would be possible to have an event with Morty Diamond, a transgender performance artist, filmmaker, and writer. He has a porno film called “Tranny Fags” that is the first to completely highlight gay transmen. It would be possible to have this as an event for the semester so Harper will find out more information if Morty would be up for doing such an event at the University.
2. There were a lot of suggestions for movies to watch such as “Yeah…but I’m a Cheerleader,” “The Bubble,” “Shortbus,” etc. All of which we could have movie screenings for this semester.
3. Richenda (representative from Moxie) mentioned two events that are happening next semester from her group: “Moxie’s Masturbation Month” and “Babeland” (February).

i. On National Coming Out Day, October 11^th the OSDA and Career Services are hosting an “Out at Work” event from 6PM – 8PM. Nicole Wolfrath from Career Services will talk to Allan on Friday regarding the details but so far there will be 4-6 employers representing organizations that advocate for LGBTQ rights as well as people from various industries discussing being “out” in the workplace.

ii. Allan also suggested that since we have a National Coming Out Kit from the Human Rights Campaign that it would also be possible to table during the day to have pamphlets to hand out to interested students. This to be discussed at the next meeting.

5. Allan also mentioned that a lot of motivational speakers from all sorts of backgrounds in the LGBTQ community have contacted to OPEN to speak so if anyone is interested, let Allan know via email.
6. There’s also a need for something to be done on World AIDS Day on December 1^st so if anyone has any suggestions, let us know.
7. Harper brought up the idea of probably having a social with the LGBTQ group over in Sarah Lawrence since we have a connection with the President of the group there. This would hopefully be the seed in trying to host a conference of sorts similar to CUNY’s Queer Conference in the Spring Semester.
2. Event Planning – “Yeah…but I’m a Cheerleader”
1. We decided that we would want to have a viewing of the film which centers on a recently “ousted” cheerleader who gets sent to a school to learn how to be straight. We’ll have a social for people to get to know one another prior to the showing, along with snacks, and a discussion of the film afterwards.
2. Tentative Date and Time – Thursday September 27^th or Wednesday September 26^th from 6PM – 8:30PM
3. Tentative Space – Either in the Student Activity Space in the 55 West 13^th Building or Room 050 in the 65 West 11^th St Building (the Fishbowl Classroom in the basement)
4. Harper said that he might be able to get free vibrators from Babeland and we could use it as an advertising gimmick to get people to come.
5. Eric Garrison, our temporary group advisor, would be able to lend his copy of the film for the event.
6. Allan already submitted a registration form to the OSDA so finalized time, date, and location details will be shared.
7. Melissa volunteered to assist Allan in helping to prep for the program.
3. The need for a new advisor
1. In the wake that our old advisor for the group left, Eric Garrison will serve as our temporary advisor.

i. Suggestions at the meeting for contacting several people include Michael Pettinger, Ivan Raykoff, and Eleni Litt.

ii. Allan will email those professors and see if one would be able to serve as the advisor for the group.

5. Items to be discussed at the next meeting
1. Morty Diamond Event
2. Update on the “Yeah…but I’m A Cheerleader” screening
3. A consistent meeting time that works with everyone’s schedule as best as possible.
4. Suggestions and ideas for what else we can do this semester
5. Opportunities to serve in the community