User:Nramirez5099/TGI Justice Project

Formation
Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project

The Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project or better known as the TGI Justice project began in 2004 and are a non profit organization based in San Francisco. In the beginning, much of the projects growth was dependent on the aid and support by the Soros Justice fellowship. The fellowship was used to provide legal services for transgender and gender non-conforming people. The TGI Justice projects main goal is to assist transgender and gender non-conforming people who are or have been locked up in the California prison system, jails and detention centers. According to their website they work to create a culture pushed by resistance and resilience that strengthen their community and to fight against things such as human rights abuses, police violence, racism, poverty, and of course societal pressures.

Transgender in Prison Committee
The Transgender in Prison Committee or TIP was one of the TGI justice projects initiatives that was started because of the HIV-in-Prison Committee. Judy Greenspan was an individual that saw and responded to the need for an advocacy group to be created to support transgender-individuals from the many observed cases of anti-transgender discrimination and violence occurring in the prison system. The Transgender in Prison Committee would become the community organizing program for the TGIJP, with Miss Major Griffin-Gracy being assigned to oversee the committee.

The 2010's
In 2010, the project refocused their goals toward peer legal advocacy programs. This time for the TGIJP was a time of a lot of change where the staff consisted entirely of trans people of color, with a majority of them being formerly incarcerated. Late in 2015 a change of executive director occurred with Miss Major’s retirement and Janetta Johnson’s take over as the Executive Director of the TGIJP. The organizations accomplishments include aiding and assisting in prison reform and assisting those individuals in getting proper care and treatment within the prison system as well as when they get out of prison, jail or detention centers

Philosophy
The main goal of the foundation is to not only assist current and past prisons transition back to regular life but to make sure that they are treated humanly and with respect. Within the prison system treatment of transgender and queer individuals is often not discussed and the inhuman treatment is not spoken about or acknowledged. The TGI Justice project wants to spotlight these individuals and these behaviors so others aren't treated in the same way. The organization also want to provide visibility to the transgender community and help change the narrative of transgender individuals being labeled as criminals and predators.They state on their own site that their goal is to "challenge and end the human rights abuses committed against TGI people in California prisons, jails, detention centers and beyond."

Notable members
Some prominent and significant members included Alexander Lee who is the founding Director and attorney who had been working with the Transgender in Prison Committee of California Prison Focus and Justice Now. Another important figure in the committee was Executive Director Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, who joined the organization in 2005 and was one of the first Staff Organizers. Miss Major, who is a trans woman herself, is an activist and community leader for transgender rights, whose activism focuses on the betterment of women of color. Some other key members included Judy Greenspan, Antoine Mahan, Delphine Brody, Neddy Baguio, Morgan Bassichis, and Jayden Donahue who were founding members of the Transgender in Prison Committee. Judy Greenspan is an activist whose focus was on prisoner rights reform concentrating on HIV/AIDS inmates in the California prison system. Antoine Mahan is a board member on the California Prison Focus group, which opposes the use of Security Housing Units and is also a former prisoner who spent two years at Corcoran State Prison. Delphine Brody is a queer, trans feminist and activist who is based in Sacramento, and is a co-founder and organizer for the Sacramento Women’s Council. Morgan Bassichis is the author of ‘It’s War in Here’: A Report on the Treatment of Transgender and Intersex People in New York State Men’s Prisons" which was published by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. Bassichis also writes essays on queer politics and prison abolition and performs shows to educate and explore the many ideas she has. Jayden Donahue is a member of the Oakland chapter of the Critical Resistance which has the main goal of abolishing the Prison Industrial Complex which he believes is central to building up these communities. Janetta Johnson would take over after Miss major as the executive director of the TGIJP. The main reason for her passion and commitment to prison reform is because she  was formerly incarcerated in a men's prison, where she was denied gender-affirming health care and treated inhumanly and violently.

Current Activities
- In 2016, the TGIJP joined the Black Lives Matter movement in withdrawing from the San Francisco Pride Parade, in response to police involvement in the event.

- In 2016, The TGI Justice project and The Black & Pink advocacy group partnered together to create an LGBT prisoners' art exhibit that offers a voice to those who were incarcerated and to push a 'call to action. The goal of the exhibit was to create dialogue and action for US prisons and those who identify as LGBT. Part of that goal was to make those on the outside feel a deeper connection with those behind bars and to get a mutual understanding of the struggles that they face.

- In 2020, their was a push for increased state support for trans individuals and a call to release incarcerated TGI individuals from prison who do not pose a safety risk during the COVID19 pandemic. Janetta Johnson called for the need to be “very specific and intentional about people coming out of detention centers and immigration.”

- In 2019, the TGI Justice project along with the ACLU of California, Equality California, Lambda Legal, Transgender Law Center, and TransLatin@ supported the bill SB 132 which proposes to house inmates according to their gender identity, rather than by their biological sex.

Publications and Resources
Publications and resources ran by the TGI Justice Project include:

- Stiletto: twice a year the TGI Justice Project sends out this magazine to over 1,500 TGI people inside prisons, jails, detention centers providing updates and news surrounding activist activities and the transgender community.

- Prisoner resource guides: these guides are used to help transgender and non conforming individuals who are in prison or getting ready to be sent to prison. They provide information and guidance on many resources such as HIV/AIDS resources, medical care, attorney referrals and sexual assault resources.

- A Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Guide To Parole Preparation: the guide is meant to help transgender and non conforming individuals through the parole process that many times can be harder for TGI people who don't have the same resources and support to succeed.

- TGI Justice Court Support Guidelines: these guidelines provide information for members of the community to support each other during hard times. This includes the etiquette involved in court and how one should navigate the courtroom.