Period. Issue 001

PRESENTS PERIOD.

plusour 2023 COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AGENDA

honoring LAYLEEN and MOTHER LaTRAVIOUS

featuring JGR

A word from Shéár.

Welcome to Period. Each page of NEW PrideAgenda’s new quarterly organizing newsletter is intended to be a starting place. A starting place for conversations, skill building, and community connections. A starting place to grow thoughts, ideas, and our collective leadership abilities into organized action. A starting place for us to move collectively beyond equalityandtowardsequity. Period.

These are trying times, family. Our lives are under attack! At NEW Pride Agenda, we're standing up and fightingback,withyou! Period.

With every issue, I hope you and I can envision solutions to pressing issues together. I’m confident that with each read, you’ll be more aware of upcoming community events, more informed about our advocacy efforts, and more experienced in effective organizing strategies. You’ll hear from your very own community-family as well as elected allies and leaders on the frontline. There will even be opportunities for you to engage, too, by participating in calls-to-action, submitting artwork, or writing to us to share your thoughts in a future publication.

With so much at stake, let’s organize and win together! We all have to start somewhere. I hope this monthly newsletter –resource, guide, toolkit, curated compilation – motivates you to get involved in some way and that over time, Period. can help connect the dots to our shared struggles and bridge the gaps between forces of oppression that keep us apart. We’re inthistogether–andwe’rejustgettingstarted.

InSolidarity, Shéár Avory LeadStatewide CommunityOrganizer NEW Pride Agenda

Self Love & Collective Care In Organizing

Dear Friends,

As activists and leaders, organizing to dismantle systems of oppression demands much of our time and energy. Being exposed to and working against the violence and injustice of these systems takes a great toll on us, and we often forgo taking care of our own needs to meet those of the communities we love. It is vital that we engage in both self love and collective care to sustain ourselves and our movements. As Audre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence,itisself-preservation,andthatisanact ofpoliticalwarfare.”

I have found that understanding our needs and limits is an important first step in healing and preserving our strength as organizers. This starts with prioritizing our basic physical and mental well-being by supporting our nutrition, hydration, and sleep to the best of our ability with the resources available to us.

Recognizing when we are failing to take care of these essential needs and experiencing burn out is key so that we can take a stepbackanddevotethenecessarytimetocareforourselves.

Beyond supporting our fundamental well-being, identifying and engaging in activities that are healing for us can help us renew and restore our energy for organizing. Think about what reduces stress for you and brings you joy, and work to include these fulfilling activities in your routine and when you’re feeling overwhelmed. This can be anything from meditation, yoga, dancing, making art, writing poetry, cooking, or spending time withlovedones.

Caring for ourselves is not just an individual responsibilitybutacollectiveone. Recognizing when you need help and seeking it out along with recognizing when others need this help and providing it are both fundamental to creating a system where we can lean on one another for support. Creating these systems of support in our organizing spaces and communities is critical so that we can check in with those

Jessica Gonzales-Rojas Assemblymember,34thDistrict

around us to assess their needs and help meet them. In the organizing that I have done, I have seen how powerful it is when people provide this care to one another.

I hope that through these processes, we can create spaces where we are able to take care of ourselves and others. Supporting our well-being and those we are in community with are essential to successful and thriving movements for change.

In Solidarity,

Photo by New York State Assembly

Progress Notes: Our Wins In 2022

Supported an increase in state funding from $4.5 to $12.5 million for the LGBTHealthandHuman ServicesFund.

Won an unprecedented $3 million for TGNC New Yorkers and passed legislation to create the Lorena Borjas Trans & Non Binary Wellness & EquityFund.

Recognized for our leadership and impact across New York State by Lambda Independent Democrats, Stonewall Democratic Club, and AmidaCare.

The Center honored Elisa Crespo, NPA’s Executive Director, with the Community Impact Award at the The Center’s 25th Annual Women’sEvent.

Lead Statewide Community Organizer Shéár Avory was honored by the New York City Comptroller for Pride Month and received a leadership impact award fromNYTAG.

NPA democratized the processfordetermining what we advocate for, becoming the first statewide LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization todoso.

Meet Brittan: NPA’s Upstate Community Organizer

Happy New Year and Happy Black History Month!

I hope you all are ready to continue the fight for equity with us here at New Pride Agenda. We are kicking off the year in full force by listening and learning, empowering and mobilizing, and organizing to win! Our 2023 Community Advocacy Agenda just recently dropped, and it’s becauseofyou–hundredsof

mostlylower-income,workingclassBIPOCLGBTQIA+ NewYorkerswhovotedandmade your voices heard – that our advocacy agenda is truly the community’s agenda. I’m proud to be part of a team that strives to listen to the communities they serve. We heard you, and now it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and fight alongside you!

I’m so excited to be the newest member of the New PrideAgenda Family. My name is Brittan Hardgers, I use he/him pronouns, and I’m grateful to be your Upstate Community Organizer. As the first Black, out trans person to run for Rochester City Council, I am acutely aware of the importance of having a seat at the table. We all must work together to make sure the voices of our community are not just heard and uplifted but also factored into legislation, public dollars, accessible resources, and equitable services. I am ready to get to work uplifting to the voices ofourcommunitiesfromBuffalo,toRochester,Syracuseandbeyond.Fortoolong,we’vebeen left behind. Rochester alone is home to not one, but three of the poorest zip codes in the entire country. Upstate BIPOC queer communities have long been suffering from decades of lackluster investments and disproportionately inadequate resources and services compared to those available in New York City. Lifting every voice means leaving none of us behind, no matter where we live in New York State. I look forward to the continued work of making our visionsofequityandtheabilitytothriveareality,notjustaDREAM.

For MLK Day, we started our advocacy and organizing efforts for the year “Uplifting Every Voice” with a town hall in Rochester, NY. We met community in the community. When I say we had a time, listen here… we had such an amazing day of fellowship, education, awareness and most importantly listening to the voices of our community outside of NewYork City. One of the primary goals of this gathering was to remind our Upstate and Western New York community-family that we are ONE community and that our lives, issues, and needs matter too.To us it’s been painfully clear but if was made even more evident throughout the day that we need true unity across the state so we’re no longer left behind. No matter where you live in New York State, please know yourvoiceiscrucialintheadvancementtowardsequityforallLGBTQIA+NewYorkers.

I am a true believer that we ALL are Black History. When I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am reminded that this man had a vision, a dream: he was dedicated to the concept that all people are created equally as well as being steadfast in educating Black, Brown, and Indigenous people that our right to vote and make our voices heard should come merely on the fact that we exist here inAmerica. When thinking of groundwork laid by MLK Jr. and so many others, I find myself stunned by history. Today we find ourselves reliving many moments of history’s past. Voting rights are on the chopping block. Reproductive freedoms and bodily autonomy are being stripped away. Queer and trans people are being pushed back into the closet – or driven out of their communities. Nevertheless, we live in the dream he had one night that has shaped our resilience to history repeating itself. MLK Jr. never got to see an actual ballot, never got the right to vote. His ability to see a different future of possibilities for our people has allowed me to not only see a ballot,butto havetheabilitytovoteandtohavemynameonone.Ase’.

We, the people, are the living proof of all of the visions of our ancestors. So never forget, we may not be around to see the end results of our work, but generations to come will live on in the true definition of equity, justice, and liberation for all. Where we stand today is evidence that dreams andvisionsofanequitablesocietyforallis POSSIBLE. Thisistheblueprintofourancestors.

We must take care of ourselves and each other for it is our duty to do the work. I look forward to continuing the work with you collectivelyacrossourstate.

Sayitwithme: NEW PRIDE!

Peace and love, BrittanHardgers

What We’ve Been Up To Lately

In January, NEW Pride Agenda hosted our first free clothing drive pop-up shop atThe Center in collaboration with New Alternatives, NYTAG, AmidaCare,andDestinationTomorrowfeaturing amanicurebarbyHUECollective.

On Valentine's Day the Save NY’s Safety Net Coalition hosted an advocacy day in Albany. We stand in solidarity with them in calling on the NYS Legislatureto SAVENY’SHEALTHCARESAFETY NET byrepealingthe340BCarveOut.

SEX WORK IS WORK! We are proud to have strategizedwithDecrimNYandtheUrbanJustice Center’s Sex Worker’s Project to develop this series of advocacy and organizing trainings to educate our communities about the need to decriminalizeconsentualadultsexworkinNYS.

Lead Statewide Community Organizer, Shéár

Avory spoke with teen artists interested in activism at Brooklyn Museums InterseXtions

TeenOrganizingRoundtable

What We Had Going On This Month

Our monthly support group brings community together to share our collective experiences, learn new skills, and create a community of support. Join us next month on Thursday,March2nd 6-7:30pm.

It's

Giving

Equity! For the 52nd Annual Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative ConferenceinAlbany,NPAproudly partnered with The Center and Equality New York to present a LGBTQ+ Reception honoring Chanel Lopez and a leadership panelfeaturingUpstateCommunity Organizer,BrittanHardgers.

Thismonthwewereproudtokickoff ourthirdpaidShiftingTheBurden cohort to provide peer-to-peer support and educational resources about PrEP to LGBTQIA+ sex workers. Keep an eye out for the next application round If you’re interestedinparticipating.

LIFT EVERY VOICE 2023 Community Advocacy Agenda

In 2023 we’re working to LIFT EVERY VOICE by listening and learning, educating and mobilizing, and organizing to win –together!

We are proud to have democratized the process for determining what we advocatefor,becomingthe first and only LGBTQ+ statewide organization to do so. We hear you. Hundreds of LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers voted and made their voices heard about the issues most pressingtothem. Wehearyou. Weheardyou.

Now,let’sorganizeandwin – together!

Your Vote.Your Voice.YourAgenda.

Our2023CommunityAdvocacyAgendaistruly thecommunity’sagenda!This year’s top four initiatives – voted on and decided by hundreds of mostly lower-income,workingclassBIPOCLGBTQ+NewYorkers–andourexpanded list of legislative priorities are at the core of why we do what we do best: to champion equitable realities for LGBTQIA+ people from Buffalo to the Hudson Valley,throughoutthefiveboroughs,andacrossLongIsland.

Honoring Layleen: Reflections On The NYC TGNCNBI Task Force Report

On January 25th, 2023, the New YorkCityCouncilheldahearingon issues faced by gender expansive people incarcerated in NYC’s jails. Thehearingtookplacefivemonths aftertheNYCTaskForceonIssues

Faced by TGNCNBI People in Custody published its first report, which provides an in-depth review of the many ways the NYC Department of Correction (DOC) systematically abuses gender expansive people in its custody, offersmanyaccountsofthehorrific mistreatment of gender expansive peoplewhoareformerlyand

Commissioner Molina’s testimonywasaninsult to the many advocates and directly impacted people who contributed tothereport.

currentlyincarcerated,and makes extensive policy recommendations aimed to improve the safety and well-being of TGNCNBI incarceratedpeople.Some ofthoserecommendations include:

(1) improving intake practices to ensure trans people are not sent to the wrong facility for intake, where they can remain for weeks untiltransferred,

(2) housing people in alignment with their gender identity or where they feel safest,and

(3) improving access to affirminghealthcare.

DOC Commissioner Louis Molina testified on behalf of the Department. Commissioner Molina’s testimony was an insult tothemanyadvocatesand directly impacted people who contributed to the reportaswellasthose

whohaveriskedtheirlives to reveal the truth of how miserably the City is failing transgender New Yorkers. His remarks made it clear that he had not only failed to read the reportbuthealsofailedto familiarizehimselfwiththe CityCouncilbillsthatwere thesubjectofthehearing. Molina denied that trans peoplewerefacingabuse, herefusedanymeaningful collaboration with the City’s own commissioned Task Force, and revealed a total disregard for TGNCNBI people in DOC custody.

Commissioner Molina revealed that the DOC deliberately shelved a directive… under life threateningindifference.

Under questioning by the chairs of the Committee on Criminal Justice and Committee on Women and Gender Equity, Council Member Rivera and Council Member Cabán, respectively, Commissioner Molina revealed that the DOC deliberately shelved a directive thatwouldhave improved its ability to place gender expansive people in the safest facilities,whilelettingan

LGBTQ Affairs Unit slowly disintegrate under the weight of life-threatening indifference.

Following the Department’s DOC’stestimony,apanelof Task Force Members, including co-authors of the report, Shéár Avory, Grace Detreverah, Mik Kinkead, Deborah Lolai, and Dr. Rachel Golden testified, calling out Commissioner Molina’s lies on the record, and making their position very clear: Department of Corrections continues to refusetoimproveconditions for TGNCNBI people in its custody, and that this is an urgentissueof life-or-death illustrated by the death of Layleen Polanco, a transgender woman who died in DOC custody on RikersIslandin2019.

Deborah Lolai BXDefenderServices

TheTaskForceaskedtheCityCouncilto

(1) passRes.No.458,

(2)maketheirsuggestedamendmentsto Int. No. 887, Int. No. 831, Int. No. 728, andthenpassthoseamendedbills,and

(3) reconsider whether Int. No 355 and Res. No. 117 would address the issues gender expansive people who are incarceratedarefacing.

Additionally, there was a very clear requestthatLocalLaw2019/145-which createdtheTaskForce-beamendedto providesupportforTaskForcemembers, and to explicitly require DOC to engage withtheTaskForceingoodfaith,suchas by sharing data about gender expansive peopleintheircustody,

which they have been withholding intentionally since the first report was published.

Following the testimony of Task Force members, several panels of formerly incarcerated people, people offering testimony on behalf of currently incarcerated people, and advocates, shared stories of the abuse and discrimination that gender expansive people in DOC custody continue to face, and called on the City Council to act beforemorepeopledie.

Deb Lolai BronxDefenders MemberoftheNYCTGNCNBITaskForce

Remembering Mother LaTravious + our siblings lost in 2022

Mother LaTravious was my first glimpse of black transgender leadership.

Through her life's work, The BrooklynGhostProject,Mother LaTravious cultivated a space of empowerment and education. With a focus on giving TGNC people the freedom and skills to be their own heros, she created the Saving Our Own Lives Program.Fourdaysbeforeshe passed, Mother LaTravious wrote a powerful letter of recommendationwithinanhour ofmeaskingforherassistance and support. She helped me grow as a mentor and has helped save the lives of so manyofourtranssiblings.True to her name, she mothered all who crossed her path, and I’ll be forever grateful. Mother LaTravious will always remain aninspirationforherrelentless pursuitofcollectivejusticeand successfortransgengerpeople of color. May she rest peacefullyinpower!

Jewel Baskerville Civic Engagement & Political EducationProjectIntern,NPA

Amariey Lei

Shot at the age of 20 on New Year's Day in Wilkinsburg, PA

Duval Princess

Shot at the age of 24 in Jacksonville, FL

Cypress Ramos

Died by blunt force trauma at the age of 21 in Lubbock, TX

Naomie Skinner

Shot by boyfriend at the age of 25 in Highland Park, MI

MatthewAngelo

Spampinato

Victim of hit-and-run at the age of 21 in New Castle, DE

Paloma Vazquez

Shot at the age of 29 in Houston, TX

Tatiana Labelle

Found beaten to death in a trash can at 33 in East Chatham, Chicago, IL

Kathryn “Katie”

Newhouse

Murder-suicide by father at 19 in Canton, GA

Kenyatta “Kesha” Webster

Found dead in Jackson, MI at age 24

Miia Love Parker

Shot at 25 in Chester, PA

Cypress Ramos

Died by blunt force trauma at the age of 21 in Lubbock, TX

Ariyanna Mitchell

Shot at 17 in Hampton, VA Fern Feather

Stabbed at 29 in Morristown, VT

Ray Muscat

Murder-suicide by girlfriend at 24 in Oakland County, MI

Nedra Sequence Morris

Shot at 50 in Opa-locka, FL

ChanelikaY’Ella Dior

Hemingway

Found dead at 30 in Albany, NY

Sasha Mason

Shot at 45 in Zebulon, NC

Brazil Johnson

Shot at 28 in Milwaukee, WI

Shawmayne’Giselle

Marie

Shot at 27 in Gulfport, MS

Kitty Monroe

Shot in Cordova, TN

Martasia Richmond

Stabbed at 30 in West

Englewood, Chicago, IL

Keshia Chanel Geter

Shot at 26 in Augusta, GA

Cherry Bush

Shot at 48 in Los Angeles, CA

Marisela Castro

Shot in Houston, TX

Hayden Davis

Shot at 28 in Detroit, MI

Kandii Reed

Killedat29inKansas City,Missouri

Aaron Lynch

Shot by police during wellness check at 26 in McLean, VA

Maddie Hofmann

Shot by police during wellness check at 47 in Malvern, PA

DedeRicks

Shot at 33 in Detroit, MI

Regina ‘Mya’Allen

Shot at 35 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Acey Morrison

Shot at 30 in Rapid City, SD

Semaj Billingslea

Shot at 33 in Jacksonville, FL

Tiffany Banks

Killed at 25 in Miami, FL

DanielAston

Mass shooting victim at 28 in Colorado Springs, CO

Diamond Jackson-McDonald

Shot at 27 on Thanksgiving Day in Philadelphia, PA

Mimi Zion Starr Unity Community Leader in NY, passed away at 37

Henry Berg-Brousseau Deputy Press Secretary for Politics at HRC, died by suicide at 24 in KY

Kelly Loving

Mass shooting victim at 40 in Colorado Springs, CO

Mar’Quis Jackson

Blunt force trauma at 33 in Philadelphia, PA

No matter how hard they try, our lives will never be forgotten and our existence will never be erased.

May all of our trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive siblings who have lost their lives due to acts of hate, anti-trans violence, suicide, or otherwise rest powerfully in peace.Asé. While we continue to grieve, we are committed to transforming our grief into collective empowerment to fight the ongoing atrocities against our lives head-on in your names.Onwardtoamorefree,safe,andjustfuture!

–Shéár.NPA

“Everytime we look for validation outside of ourselves, we lose a piece of our freedom”

– Mother LaTravious Founder & Executive Director of Brooklyn Ghost Project

ORGANIZING TOOLBOX

Albany, On The Go!

Each issue of Period. is meant to be a starting place for skill building and collective leadership development.This issue’s OrganizingToolbox is focused onquicklyunderstandingthebasicsofNewYork’sbudgetseasonandlegislative sessiontimelinesoyou’reawareofwhenyourrepresentativesareinAlbanyand arebetterequippedtoadvocate,organize,andmobilizeyourcommunities.

We all have skills to offer and a stake in the movement. Let’slead,together!

JANUARY

The legislative session begins eachyearinJanuary.

Electeds are given committee assignments and settle into work-modefortheyear.

State of The State Address is presented by the Governor in mid-January..

APRIL - MAY

NYSbudgetisadoptedbyboth chambers and signed by the GovernorbyApril1st.

Committee members hold committeehearingsonbills.

Advocates meet with electeds and community organizations hostadvocacydays. Billsarevotedon.

FEBRUARY - MARCH

The Governor releases their Executive Budget Proposal no laterthanFebruary1st.

Budgethearingsbegin.

Bills are introduced or begin to pickupmomentum.

Community organizations ramp up advocacy efforts and begin hostingadvocacydays.

JUNE - DECEMBER

Bills are voted on before the endofsession.

Once the legislative session concludes, legislators return to their districts and engage with constituents through events, town halls, and meetings with advocates to plan for the next year’slegislativesession.

#NEWPride Advocacy In Action

WHAT’S NEXT?

1.

2. SAVE THE DATES TO GET INVOLVED!

● Saturday,March25th/2-6pm

○ Foley Square to Stonewall Park: Rally To Victory

● Tuesday,April25th

○ 2023 LGBTQ+ CommunityAdvocacy Day:Albany

3. STAY TUNED, MORE SOON!

There’s more where this came from. Stay tuned for an organizing-specific podcast we have in the works and our summer rally-party series in collaborationwithMartiCummings!