Stanley-Eric-Captive-Genders-Trans-Embodiment-and-Prison-Industrial-Complex

Building an Abolitionist Trans and Queer MovementThese radical lineages have nurtured and guided transformativebranches of queer and trans organizing working at the intersections ofidentities and struggles for collective liberation. These branches have redefinedwhat count as queer and trans issues, losses, victories, and strategies—puttingstruggles against policing, imprisonment, borders, globalization,violence, and economic exploitation at the center of strugglesfor gender and sexual self-determination. Exploding the false divisionbetween struggles for (implicitly white and middle-class) sexual and genderjustice and (implicitly straight) racial and economic justice, there isa groundswell of radical queer and trans organizing that’s changing allthe rules—you just have to know where to find it. In the chart below, wedraw out a few specific strands of these diverse radical lineages that havepaved the way for this work. In the first column, we highlight a value thathas emerged from these radical lineages. In the second column, we lift upspecific organizations striving to embody these values today. 23Deepening the Path of Those Who Came Beforeradical lineageLiberation is a collective process!The conventional nonprofit hierarchicalstructure is actually a very recentphenomenon, and one that is modeledoff corporations. Radical organizations,particularly feminist and womenof color-led organizations, have oftenprioritized working collectively—wheregroup awareness, consensus, and wholenessis valued over majority rule andindividual leadership. Collectivism atits best takes up the concerns of thefew as the concerns of the whole. Forexample, when one member of a groupor community cannot attend an eventor meeting because the building is notwheelchair accessible, it becomes a momentfor all to examine and challengeableism in our culture—instead of justdismissing it as a “problem” that affectsonly people who use wheelchairs.contemporary descendantThe Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP),among many other organizations, hasshown just how powerful workingcollectively can be—with their staffand volunteers, majority people ofcolor, majority trans and gender-nonconforminggoverning collective, SRLPis showing the world that how we doour work is a vital part of the work, andthat doing things collectively helps usto create the world we want to see aswe’re building it.29