From Angry Brown Butch:
In the wake of growing violence against Trans and Gender Nonconforming (TGNC) people, as evidenced by the brutal attack on renowned Singer and Drag Performer-Kevin Aviance, the New York City Police Department and the City of New York have chosen to deny TransJustice’s applications to march and rally on 8th Avenue during NYC’s pride celebrations. Trans Day of Action would have been used to commemorate the death of Amanda Milan, a 25 year-old African-American transgender woman, who was brutally murdered on June 20, 2000, in the middle of an intersection near Port Authority Bus Terminal as onlookers cheered. However, during a 2nd meeting with Manhattan South Police Precinct on June 19th, we were told that Trans and Gender Nonconforming people, as well as allies, will not be permitted to march through Midtown Manhattan. Now we have it in writing! We received a written denial shortly thereafter.
Here’s another article with a little more information.
And here’s an article about Milan (very disturbing).
And a 2002 fact sheet with some more examples (by no means an inclusive list) of why we march.
In other news, on the other side of the country, our march is scheduled for this Friday:
We are calling for this march to demonstrate that we are a significant and growing portion of the lgbtiq community; to increase our visibility and presence in the tgiqlb community and the overall community at large; to encourage more trans and gender-variant people to come out; to build connections among ftm, mtf, bayot, crossdressers, sadhin, hijra, transvestites, bantut, drag queens, drag kings, mahu, transsexuals, bakla, travesti, genderqueers, kathoey, two spirit, intersex and those with other labels for themselves and no labels for themselves, those who see gender as having more than two options, and those who live between the existing options; to support one another as a community, through all of our struggles; to speak out against violence, hate, transphobia, and the oppression of any and all of us under the existing social structure; and to be fabulous and powerful in the company of others that are fabulous and powerful.
Dress up, show up, bring signs, speak out, and be what happens!
What they said.
Somehow I imagine that even if politically favored groups, say fundamentalist nutjob psuedo-Christians, were being subjected to violence they’d still be allowed to exercise their rights of speech and assembly. Is this really the state of our country now, where murder and beatings serve the dual purpose of both intimidating a group and simultaneously delegitizing that group in the eyes of officialdom? I’ve heard it said that if you have to resort to violence, it’s because you lost the argument. Apparently in this day and age resorting to violence will cause the government to silence those who would argue with you.
To be perfectly honest, I’m not surprised they turned it down if this was the only acceptable time, place and date. That’s Friday evening rush right outside Port Authority and near the Lincoln Tunnel and entry to the West Side Highway. During the summer. Even a few hours later would work better.
I know enough about the permitting process to know that they generally don’t turn people/groups down flat unless there’s a big problem with what they’re asking for and they’re offering no other alternative. Most organizers know this, and have Plan B at the ready.
Right. There are logistical concerns about the march over here (which also takes place during rush hour on Friday, which sucks). But from the other article, I get the sense that the PTB weren’t interested in negotiating.
It’s hard to tell from that press release what the negotiations were like.