“The ways that women of color present themselves should never be policed, let alone result in an arrest or conviction.”
Gender-based discrimination in the state of New York has been codified since 1976 via Section 240.37, which makes “loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense” a violation. But advocates including the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) are fighting for the repeal of laws that legislate against “walking while trans.”
“Trans communities around the country and the world have been organizing for a long time to challenge the ways our existence gets criminalized,” Gabriel Arkles, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told The Nation in an article published February 19. “In this moment, in places like Florida and South Dakota, that looks like organizing to stop new laws. In other places, like New York and D.C., [we’re] trying to get laws off the books that have been used to criminalize trans women of color in public space for a long time.”
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