ACTIVISM
Spirited Rally Highlights Annual Trans Latinx March
Organizers push for the decriminalization of sex work and citizenship for all
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
More than 100 people
fl ocked to Corona
Plaza in Queens
on August 2 for the
10th annual Trans Latinx March
to bring attention to issues facing
Latinx transgender individuals.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus
pandemic, this year’s march
resembled more of a stationary
rally, with demonstrators delivering
remarks about a range of issues
— including the violence facing
transgender individuals, the
unique needs of transgender undocumented
immigrants, and the
problems surrounding the NYPD’s
vice squad, which works on human
traffi cking and sex work-related
cases but has been ripped by
advocates for running raids in the
area and sexually harassing sex
workers.
At the event, which also featured
entertainment from performers
on stage, powder representing
the Trans Flag was propelled into
the air while folks chanted “Si,
Se Puede!” Demonstrators wore
T-shirts with the face of Roxsana
Hernández, a Honduran transgender
woman who died in ICE custody
in 2018, as well as the late
Latinx Queens activist Lorena
Borjas, who spearheaded a bail
fund and other community efforts
but tragically died last year due to
COVID-19.
For years, the Trans Latinx
March has been rooted in Queens,
which boasts a Latinx community
of approximately 28 percent
and has one of the largest immigrant
populations in the city. The
neighborhood of Jackson Heights,
including surrounding areas such
as Corona and Elmhurst, also has
large populations of Latinx people.
The Trans Immigrant Project
(TRIP), an LGBTQ immigrant advocacy
division of Make the Road
New York, called for citizenship
for undocumented immigrants,
advocated for the decriminalization
of sex work, and joined calls
to disband the NYPD’s vice squad.
TRIP organizers Bianey Garcia
Mario Chavez (left) and Geraldine Monroy (right) of Make the Road New York call out violence targeting
trans Latinx communities.
and Mateo Guerrero emphasized
the importance of passing the Stop
Violence in the Sex Trades Act
(SVSTA), a bill that would fully decriminalize
sex work in New York
City for all parties involved in the
consensual sex trade.
“When sex workers are criminalized,
that puts them in danger,”
Guerrero said. “They are unable to
negotiate better prices, face more
violence, and they get harassed not
just by other people in the community,
but by the police.”
Activists also slammed supporters
of the Nordic Model, which only
removes penalties for sex workers
and not others involved in the
sex trade. That model has been
slammed by activists who have
maintained the position that only
full decriminalization would eradicate
the stigma sex workers face
and reduce risk of traffi cking by
giving them more control over their
work. State Senator Liz Krueger of
Manhattan and Assemblymember
Pamela Hunter of upstate New York
TAT BELLAMY – WALKER
proposed such a bill earlier this
year called the “Sex Trade Survivors
Justice and Equality Act.”
“If you understand the decriminalization
of sex work to be an economic
justice legislation, then we
cannot support the Nordic model,”
Guerrero said, criticizing legislative
efforts in the state to advance
that kind of approach. “That bill
would bring more damage to our
communities not just by criminalizing
Black and Brown people that
purchase sex, but you cannot surveil
the clients without surveilling
the workers as well. It continues to
terrorize sex workers.”
The state most recently repealed
a loitering law that was known as a
ban on “Walking While Trans” because
of how the law was used to
target transgender women of color
for nonsensical reasons such as
what they were wearing or how
they were walking.
“What we learned over the years
is that the institutions like the vice
squad, which is still operating and
functioning, disproportionately
target communities of color, including
trans women of color,” said
Elisa Crespo, who serves as the
executive director of the New Pride
Agenda and is a Latina transgender
woman. “As long as the vice
squad is around and being funded,
then it will continue to cause harm
and perpetuate violence toward
vulnerable communities like ones
who are organizing the event.”
Attendees balanced the activist
messages with colorful and
unapologetic displays of Pride.
Liaam Winslet, an Ecuadorian
transgender woman and executive
director of Colectivo Intercultural
Transgrediendo, an LGBTQ
advocacy group, said the annual
march sends a message to locals
that trans Latinx communities belong
in Queens.
“I live here, this is my neighborhood,
this is my community,” said
Winslet, who is also a sex worker.
“It is very important that you respect
my rights.”
Individuals also conveyed personal
and sobering stories about
their own experiences facing adversity.
Victoria Galeana Ortiz, a
Mexican transgender woman, told
Gay City News she was attacked
outside of a taco stand in Elmhurst
for being transgender. Galeana Ortiz
said the attacker asked, “Are
you a woman or you a man?” and
when she responded, “I’m a transgender
woman,” the man said, “I’ll
kill you” — and then punched her
in the face. Galeana Ortiz called
police, but they arrived late on the
scene.
When detectives followed up
with her about the case, Galeana
Ortiz struggled to receive bilingual
services.
“Please, I need someone who can
speak Spanish,” she told cops. Following
the attack, Galeana Ortiz
said she is still hesitant to walk
outside alone and prefers to take
taxis rather than risk anti-trans
violence on the streets.
“The police is supposed to be
help to the community, but it’s no
help,” she said. “A lot of transgender
people in Queens are dying.”
AUGUST 12 - AUGUST 25, 2 4 021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
