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[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTcDHXpbCUyUj2nLp0GUVfKmT4WZMH0QPIyTz90ys3VkguqA/viewform?usp=sf_link]Join
Rafael Espinal's Campaign for NYC Public Advocate for a community
forum in which a group of panelists will be discussing pressing issues
in NYC’s vibrant LGBTGNIQA+ community!
We will be covering topics including policy, cultural shifts,
grassroots movements, and mutual aid which has brought the community
together to push for full economic, social, and civil equality and
what needs to be done to strategize our next steps together. We aim to
create an inclusive, intersectional dialogue on topics which will
include: HIV/AIDs research and support, homelessness, healthcare,
trans incarceration and criminal justice reform, affordable housing
for the elderly, hate crime violence and goals surrounding preventive
measures, issues surrounding the youth, public education, political
engagement, the passing of GENDA and our fight for fair employment,
and sex workers’ rights in the age of SESTA/FOSTA.
Panelist Bios:
About the Panelists:
RJ Thompson (Sex Workers Project at Urban Justice Center)
RJ Thompson, Esq. is a longtime human rights lawyer, organizer, and
educator; as well as a certified personal trainer, go-go dancer and
performer in the adult film industry. Prior to joining the Sex Workers
Project as Managing Director, RJ worked as the Fair Courts Project
Community Educator at Lambda Legal, where he trained judges, attorneys
and court staff on gender and sexuality cultural competency and
advocated for judicial diversity and judicial independence in Arizona,
Texas, Florida and the Federal bench. Previously, RJ served as the
Miami High Road Coordinator with the Restaurant Opportunities Centers
United (ROC United), fighting for increased wages, health care and
paid time off for restaurant workers, as well as Director of the Human
Rights Program at the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance where he
advocated for the human rights of sex workers during the first United
Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. RJ was also the
National Campaign & Advocacy Manager at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &
Transgender (LGBT) Community Center in New York City, where he
coordinated Causes in Common, a national cross-movement initiative
linking the reproductive justice and LGBT movements. He was Membership
Program Coordinator at the US Human Rights Network (USHRN)
Coordinating Center, where he organized Southern NGOs to meet with the
UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. In addition to
his staff role with USHRN, he also co-founded the Sexual Rights and
Gender Justice Working Group of the USHRN as a volunteer leader and
later served on the USHRN Board of Directors. RJ received his J.D.
from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and his B.A.
in Africana Studies and Political Science from the University of South
Florida in Tampa. He has also worked with the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force, Equality Florida, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, CRUNCH
fitness, and Amnesty International USA. RJ is a queer identified mixed
blood Cherokee with deep Southern roots. He is an active member and
leader in the Soka Gakkai International USA (SGI-USA) Nichiren
Buddhist organization for peace, culture and education. He is also a
vegetarian and a bodybuilder.
Bianey Garcia (Make the Road NY)
Bianey Garcia is a TGNC Organizer at Make the Road New York. She came
to the United States at age 15 escaping transphobia back in Mexico. At
19, she began attending transgender support groups and worked with
community leaders to educate them on STD prevention. After a unfair
and discriminatory experience from the police with community members,
Bianey joined Make the Road NY as a way to combat discrimination,
build leadership and educate TGNC community members about their
rights. She is also the organizer of the largest annually march in
Jackson Heights call "The Trans-Latina March" Bianey is a warrior
combating the hate violence against Trans-Latinas in Queens. Bianey
uses her story as fuel to combat discrimination and support community
members as one of the TGNC Organizers of TRIP Queens at Make the Road
NY.
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23/02/2019 Last update