14 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 12, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Annual Trans Latinx Night in Jackson Heights
demands equality and end of discrimination
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e 10th annual Trans Latinx Night
at Corona Plaza in Jackson Heights saw
more than 200 community members join
the festivities and calls for an end to discrimination
on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Within 10 years, the event by the Trans
Immigrant Project (TRIP), an LGBTQ
immigrant advocacy division of Make the
Road New York, has grown from a small
community march demanding employment
equality to a major annual event
calling for an end to transgender violence
and the criminalization and detention of
trans people.
Th is year, event organizers canceled the
march due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Instead, the group rallied for transgender
rights in the plaza, featuring transgender
speakers who shared their stories and
lively performances by transgender entertainers.
Attendees — some carrying signs with
the image of Roxsana Hernández, a
Honduran transgender woman who died
in ICE custody in 2018 — criticized the
Biden-Harris administration, which they
say still has to live up to its campaign
promise to improve the lives of immigrants
and the LGBTQ+ community.
Th ey demanded the administration end
the detention of Black queer and trans
immigrants and the passage of a pathway
to citizenship for all undocumented
people. Advocates also called for the
decriminalization of sex work in New
York and the disbandment of the NYPD’s
vice squads which, activists say, disproportionately
target and criminalize trans
women of color.
Tiff any Jade Monroe came to the U.S.
from Guyana. She fl ed her country aft er
years of emotional and physical abuse
as well as homelessness aft er her parents
abandoned her.
Currently, she lives with her aunt, who
she described as transphobic, in South
Ozone Park. She called out transgender
discrimination, lack of aff ordable housing
and employment opportunities for transgender
people.
She reminded the crowd that Black
and Brown trans women are still killed at
record numbers by their partners, family
members and Black men and demanded
an end of the brutal killings.
“We will not be pushed into the shadows,
be silenced or hide within our own
communities of color,” Monroe said. “I
say this to you as a scared, Black trans
woman who fears her name will one
day be added to a ‘say their names’
list.” While transgender speakers
shared their stories, a group
of activists unfurled a
large banner from the 7
line elevated platform
with three demands:
“Dismantle NYPD Vice units,” “protect
sex workers” and “citizenship for all.”
Demonstrators cheered the action while
pink, blue and white powder, representing
the colors of the trans fl ag, was shot
into the air.
Th e emcees of the event, Mario Chavez
and Geraldine Monroy, shared their stories
with QNS, with the help of translator
and Make the Road NY organizer
Yatziri Tovar.
Chavez said he was at the rally for one
simple reason: he knows what discrimination
from family and society feels like
aft er he came out as gay when he was 15
years old.
“Th ey turned their back on me,” Mario
shared. “Before that, everything was love,
everything was sweet. Even when I graduated
as an accountant and when I went
out looking for a job, people discriminated
against me because of my sexual orientation.”
Geraldine Monroy, a transgender
woman, came to the U.S. two years ago
from Mexico and was held in an all-male
detention center in California for four
months.
Th e singer, entertainer and stylist left
Mexico because she was being persecuted
in her home country and said it didn’t
matter that she was a professional singer
when she arrived in New York.
“I had to start at the very bottom. I
know that together we fi ght. And whatever
we get out of this will also benefi t me,”
said Monroy, who has worked as a cleaner
and caretaker in New York City. “But with
the help of these organizations, I’m able to
lift myself up and keep going.”
Transgender community members and allies celebrated the 10th annual Trans Latinx Night in
Corona Plaza.
Tiffany Monroe of
Caribbean Equality
Project speaks at the 10th
annual Trans Latinx Night in
Corona Plaza.
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
Transgender community members and allies celebrated the 10th annual Trans Latinx Night in Corona Plaza.
Members of the transgender
community performed
at the 10th annual Trans
Latinx Night in Corona
Plaza.
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