NYC: Police violence against queer and trans people of color
September 27, 2007 - 8:55am
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quote:PRESS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Police Brutality Strikes Fifth Anniversary of Sylvia Rivera Law Project
NEW YORK - On the night of Wednesday, September 26, officers from the 9th Precinct of the New York Police Department attacked without provocation members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and of its community. Two of our community members were violently arrested, and
others were pepper sprayed in the face without warning or cause.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (srlp.org) is an organization that works on behalf of low-income people of color who are transgender, gender non-conforming, or intersex, providing free legal services and advocacy among many other initiatives. On Wednesday night, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project was celebrating its fifth anniversary with a celebration and fundraising event at a bar in the East Village.
A group of our community members, consisting largely of queer and transgender people of color, witnessed two officers attempting to
detain a young Black man outside of the bar. Several of our community members asked the officers why they were making the arrest and using excessive force. Despite the fact that our community was on the sidewalk, gathered
peacefully and not obstructing foot traffic, the NYPD chose to forcefully grab two people and arrested them. Without warning, an officer then sprayed pepper spray across the group in a wide arc, temporarily blinding many and causing vomiting and intense pain.
"This is the sort of all-too-common police violence and overreaction towards people of color that happens all the time," said Dean Spade, founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. "It's ironic that we were celebrating the work of an organization that specifically opposes state violence against marginalized communities, and we experienced a police
attack at our celebration."
"We are outraged, and demand that our community members be released and the police be held accountable for unnecessary use of excessive force and falsely arresting people," Spade continued.
Damaris Reyes is executive director of GOLES, an organization working to preserve the Lower East Side. She commented, "I'm extremely concerned
and disappointed by the 9th Precinct's response to the situation and how it escalated into violence. This kind of aggressive behavior doesn't do them any good in community-police relations."
Supporters will be gathering at 100 Centre Street Thursday Sept 26, where the two community members will be arraigned. The community calls for charges to be dropped and to demand the immediate release of those arrested.
Hey Bigcitygal, I'm sick to death of this bullshit.
Queer is an insult. The theory was that by co - opting the language of the oppressor it would lead to liberation.
It's like black men running around calling each other nigger, but white folks better not do it.
Go into any highschool today, queer is an insult.
Don't call me nigger either.
You don't have a clue, do you?
I lived in a village in Nova Scotia, in an openly "gay' (homosexual) relationship.
When I showed up for work, nobody called me "Queer".
They looked at me askance when I showed up for work, but when they saw I pulled my share of the load, they let me be.
That taught me a lesson I will never forget.
Something you should learn.
Your hostility is unnecessary and rude. Please use this forum respectfully.
Reclaiming words like "queer" is supported by some people and not supported by others. It's a widespread practice by many GLBT activists. You may not agree with it, and you're welcome to discuss why you don't agree with it, but you're not welcome to be nasty about it.
[ 27 September 2007: Message edited by: Michelle ]
The word is nasty Michelle.
As for my fellow homosexuals, don't cooperate with the abusers.
Your fellow "homosexuals"?
Not only do none of my gay or lesbian friends call themselves "homosexuals", but there are actually quite a few people who now consider that word to be as out-of-date as using "coloured" to mean Black, or "lady" to mean "woman". It's the word the moral majority types constantly use whenever referring to queer people. "The homosexual agenda." "Homosexual activists." Etc.
Anyhow, this thread isn't about what words should be used to describe queer folk. It's about an incident of homophobic police violence.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
The word is nasty Michelle.If you had bothered to read the quote and the link you would have noted that the term which you dislike was used by the The Sylvia Rivera Law Project not bigcityygal. Take it up with them, and leave an apology to bcg while you are at it. Jerk.
I am telling you Michelle that 'queer" is offensive. Please don't use that word.
There's nothing 'queer' about me.
It's an insult.
Words have meanings.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
I am telling you Michelle that 'queer" is offensive.You said that already. We get your point, it is not all that complicated. Most GLBTQ folk that I have known disagree with you. You have also derailed this thread which is about abuses suffered by POC activist within the GLBTQ community, not your pet peeve, so enough already.
Makwa is now my new spokesperson. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]
Cripes, a gal can't have back to back meetings at work all day without her thread going all to hell can she? What is this world coming to?
Thanks to Makwa and Michelle for being there.
And, well, I know he's gone, but what the fuck.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
Go into any highschool today, queer is an insult.
Um, I stopped using high school kids as my barometer for inoffensive usage of language and syntax since, like, I left high school, dude. Grody!
quote:
I lived in a village in Nova Scotia, in an openly "gay' (homosexual) relationship.
HAHAHAHAHA. You for real, a REAL "gay" (homosexual)? Wow. I ain't never seen one of them before. pssst: I bet you got all hot under the collar just typing that.
quote:
They looked at me askance when I showed up for work, but when they saw I pulled my share of the load, they let me be.
That taught me a lesson I will never forget.
Something you should learn.
Thank you, wow such great advice. The next time someone looks at me askance I'll just pull my share of the load and oppression will disappear! Kewl! Why didn't I think of this before, duh!
Okay, I'm done. [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
There's nothing 'queer' about me.
It's an insult.
Words have meanings.
Meaning always depends on context, place and time. If I should say that it's queer weather out, I probably don't mean that it's raining men. When Agatha Christie wrote about people finding themselves in Queer Street she didn't mean they bumped into a pride parade.
The term these days is coming to take on a non-pejorative meaning that just refers to anyone with unconventional sexuality or gender identity.
How bout this "the world is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."
I'm not acepting your label.
And I mean that most sincerely.
You know what? We get your point. You're off topic and you're derailing the thread. Enough.
I say that as the moderator.
quote: The next time someone looks at me askance I'll just pull my share of the load and oppression will disappear! Kewl! Why didn't I think of this before, duh!
Okay, I'm done
Oh, you're not done.
Ever lived the life?
To be mocked cause you're "gay"?
To have someone tell you that you're not serious cause you're "pink" ?
Been there, done that.
Don't need any lessons from you.
According to their website, the two charged have been released.
quote:Although they have thankfully been released, our work around this incident is not finished. Now it is time to hold the police accountable for the unnecessary force and community targeting that occurred last night, and work so that no more incidents like this happen again to our community. We will keep you all posted as to our next steps and ways to plug in.
Link
The pros and cons behind reclaiming of formerly pejorative epithets is a fascinating topic, but one for another thread.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
Oh, you're not done.
Ever lived the life?
To be mocked cause you're "gay"?
To have someone tell you that you're not serious cause you're "pink" ?
Been there, done that.
Don't need any lessons from you.
You really need to drop this hostile attitude. If you don't like the "queer" label, understand that a lot of us queers do like and support the use of it by queer and queer-allied people. If you have reasoned objections to it and want to discuss its use, take it to another thread. This one is about an issue that doesn't deserved to get derailed by your pet peeve.
If you had read a fraction of bcg's posts, you know that she is the last person you should be attacking in this manner.
quote: If you don't like the "queer" label, understand that a lot of us queers do like and support the use of it by queer and queer-allied people. If you have reasoned objections to it and want to discuss its use, take it to another thread.
What's wrong with this thread?
Don't try to send me elsewhere with that dismissive crap.
I've had a lifetime of this Bull****, "gays" who are complicit in their own abuse. Just stop doing it.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
What's wrong with this thread?
Don't try to send me elsewhere with that dismissive crap.
I've had a lifetime of this Bull****, "gays" who are complicit in their own abuse. Just stop doing it.
This thread is about an unprovoked assault against members of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project in New York. If you don't want to talk about that issue, please start another thread so as not to distract from it. I'm sure you can appreciate the importance of what happened in NYC yesterday and agree that it deserves a thread focussed on the issue alone.
...
Interestingly, the SRLP seems to have had an ally on the city council, as mentioned in the second last update on the site:
quote:City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez asked me to inform you that she has spoken the Manhattan DA regarding this matter. As of about 6:00 PM she was told that the two arrested persons will be released shortly. The DA is assessing the possibility of dropping the charges completely, but this is not yet certain. Rosie herself wrote a letter to the DA asking for the charges to be dropped.
She has also been in contact with the other three out LGBT downtown elected officials - NYS Senator Duane, NYS Assemblymember Glick and NYC Council Speaker Quinn. All have contacted the DA and expressed their concern over the incident and their interest in seeing the arrested persons released as quickly as possible.
A Google News Search still doesn't indicate any mainstream media coverage of the incident though.
What do you want Draco? The list of injustice is long.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
To have someone tell you that you're not serious cause you're "pink" ?Oh no, not the 'reverse-racism' argument again.
This is getting a little annoying.
DM: I have never heard a gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or queer person call themselves "pink" so I'm not sure where you found that one from. I get the "pink triangle" reference, but as it turns out, that's a reference that holds a lot of issues for me. So there. [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
And you have no idea who I am, so now who's making assumptions about if I've "lived the life". Ha. Double so there. [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img] [img]tongue.gif" border="0[/img]
What happened in NYC was a vast injustice, and we can't pinpoint if it happened because the activists are trans/gender-ambiguous or because they're POC or both.
Thanks for the update, Draco. That's the typical bullshit that cops do though, right? Arrest first, release later after rights have been violated, never mind how they pepper-sprayed the entire group, and then they're never held accountable, or even, for fucks sake, stop fucking doing it. I'm glad that SRLP is not letting this go and will be seeking further action on this.
quote:Originally posted by DMcLeod:
What's wrong with this thread?
Don't try to send me elsewhere with that dismissive crap.
What's wrong with it is that it's off topic here. You've been told several times. Now you're being warned by a moderator. Stop derailing this thread or you'll be banned.