STARR: The Strategic Trans Alliance for Radical Reform
OUR MISSION
STARR is dedicated to creating a safe, more equitable society for Transgender and Gender Non Conforming individuals, especially those who also identify as Black, Indigenous, and or People Of Color. Through advocacy, litigation and community empowerment we strive to abolish and reform the institutions and belief systems which have harmed these communities historically, including but not limited to: ableism, ageism, cisgender-supremacy, white-supremacy/racism; systemic poverty, sexism, and economic disenfranchisement.
STARR & THE LAW
STARR is the progenitor of well known legal organizations such as the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and we are the first organization in the U.S. to connect the struggle for TGNC-BIPOC civil-rights to ‘the courts’, winning a number of landmark legal cases on behalf of TGNC children in New York State courts over two decades ago. This work and these cases helped to lay the groundwork for many of the legal battles being waged on behalf of TGNC individuals in the courts, and in state houses across the U.S. today. Some of these victories also usher in a revolution in free and affordable healthcare for TGNC individuals who reside in New York State.
In 2021 STARR (along with its allies at the Center for Constitutional Rights and Harvard Law School’s LGBT Legal Clinic) secured landmark reforms under a settlement with NYC Department of Homeless Services, requiring an overhaul of how the agency treats and houses TGNC individuals. Our success and experience defending Trans youth, helping to reform legal and healthcare institutions, and addressing the epidemic of homelessness amongst TGNC-BIPOC communities, is more important and relevant than ever before.
URGENT WORK - We are working alongside an army of activists, community groups, lawmakers and leaders from the private sector, to respond in real time to the seemingly endless onslaught of anti-TGNC legislation and policy measures which are sweeping the country, designed to undermine the human rights, healthcare and safety of millions of people living in America.
CHAPTERS - We empower and support a number of TGNC-BIPOC leaders and communities across the U.S., amplifying the critical organizing work they are engaged in on the ground, especially in states where TGNC-BIPOC lives and civil-rights are under attack, including: Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and Florida.
SERVICES - We provide a number of direct and indirect services to TGNC-BIPOC individuals and their communities. These include (but are not limited): advocacy, emergency housing, know-your-rights education, TGNC-sensitivity training, legal & healthcare referrals, self-defense material and education, and mutual aid.
TGNC-BIPOC HISTORY PRESERVATION - STARR works daily to uplift, preserve, and protect the history, social-legacies and cultural heritage of TGNC-BIPOC communities across the U.S. We work to end all forms of revisionist-history, and state sponsored censorship or erasure (be it in the media or in the classroom), which seeks to minimize or erase the rich history and enormous cultural contributions of TGNC-BIPOC individuals and communities.
