#tgijp

Happy Birthday, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy! (October 25th, 1940)

Transgender activist, Stonewall Rebellion veteran, Attica State Prison survivor, former TGIJP Executive Director, and community leader. 

When I worked at Safeway, our managers would walk around and tell us every morning to ask our customers to do the surveys. One manager would even tell us, "It keeps our store in business."

When it comes to federal funding, it's important to give the government what they want. This information is the deciding factor on where to allocate each disbursement of government funds, every time a bill is passed.

I'm sure you remember Nanci Pelosi demanding, "The people of America need another Trillion dollars." Right?

I love her, she's got to be one of the sexiest woman imo. (If you strive to be a powerful woman when you grow up, Pelosi is your role model, trust me on that.)

Working with the Trans, Gender non-confirming, Intersex, Justice Project, and reading through senate bills that specifically apply to our community, paints a vivid picture of just how important it is to know who you are, and what you stand for. As the saying goes, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." There might be haters trying to mislead you, creeps trying to take advantage, and drugs that may confuse at times, designed to make humans honest and subservient and end up making us unsure of who we are. I'm not saying you do drugs, I'm saying there are people smoking on almost every corner of every block in the city, and the shit they got nowadays is strong enough to affect your ability to function even if you don't notice that it got you high walking by. I'm not saying don't do drugs, or even be careful. I'm saying that no matter what the reason, I understand where your head's at when filling out one of those questionnaires.

Perhaps you know who you are. Perhaps you know what you like. Perhaps you don't care. The more you answer those questions when they ask, in a way that puts your preferences at the top, the more you will see funding for the communities that apply to those choices. IT'S A VOTE THAT ACTUALLY COUNTS. You should care. Funding will be allocated to programs who sign up for and use Federal Government money for and in support of the communities listed. (Which is all of them nowadays, btw.)

If you don't know what to put, you're not alone. It may feel like those questions really matter, like people want or need to know who you are; but, they're anonymous. All Federal questionnaires are anonymous whether they say it or not. Those questions do not matter. They will not help you get a date, or change you in any way. They will; however, support you and your crush if you belong to a minority community. I'll tell you a secret. STRAIGHT PEOPLE DON'T NEED THE SUPPORT!

So what to choose? If you don't know, or you're straight; but not a hater, then pick based on what makes you feel comfortable. I like Trans girls. Wanna see more Trans girls in porn? Obviously throw the TGI community some coin.

Trans embodies radical change, by definition, no matter which direction one chooses to or feels comfortable transitioning. Genderfluid is a variant of Trans. I ran a quick Google search for advice on how to answer the gender questions and got: "For Everyday, Social, or Non-Binary Contexts: Your gender identity is completely up to you. Many intersex individuals identify as men or women, while others identify as non-binary, agender, or gender-expansive. For social spaces, choose the gender identity that best reflects who you are and how you feel If that's the option." So that suggests that there is an official way to answer as well as an optional. The same article also recommends using the legal terms you were born with when asking; but, if you're not comfortable with that and haven't officially changed your gender marker yet, answer how you want. It's obviously a problem that Government forms are quite often lacking updated and accurate options. You can optionally put sex=male and gender=female on many forms, even though they expect you to put trans. It should be a requirement since the definitions of sex and gender are as different as physical and mental characteristics respectfully. While sex and gender being opposite is usually is an indicator of transgender, or intersex genealogy, the institution who may be asking these questions may not be up to date, making it hard to answer correctly.

If you really want to support your community, the best way is to head in to a community center and fill out one of their surveys, via an intake, (which is usually pretty quick and straightforward, doesn't require an appointment, and requires no obligation or committment to attendafterwards.) and while you're there, make some friends and meet cool people in the process.

When you go to a traditional drop-in center you meet all types of people. You may not be familiar with the easy to find centers where crack stems, meth pipes, and safe shooting supplies such as clean syringes are a central focus, and are necessary to keep people who need those types of supplies safe; and, also to keep the public safe. To support my local community, I personally spend a lot of time at the Black Cultural TGI Center, (https://tgijp.org)

TGIJP's drop-in center supports primarily the Black, Trans, Gender non-conforming, and Intersex community. Leaving preference out of the equation is important; because, who you like, is no one's business but yours. There's no reason the government should really need to know who you want to have sex with. I think only the person, or people you want to have sex with should know that.

If you want to know where to find LGBTQ+ Events, resources for shelter, or even if you're in a bind and don't know what to do, there's always someone to talk to who can provide that information.

Justice being a huge part of the mission, TGIJP largely caters to those who have experienced incarceration at some point and understands the difficulties of successful reintegration one can face trying to cope with a criminal record. IMO, everyone parties at some point in their life. It's socially acceptable in our society. Everyone makes mistakes, and people do crazy things when they're in love. It may not be obvious who has a criminal record, or even that it's difficult to find a job and place with one; but, it's commonplace nowadays, and we have plenty of statistics to prove it.

"Black residents have been approximately six times more likely to be arrested by the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) than white residents, despite making up a significantly smaller percentage of the city's overall population." (https://abc7news.com/post/police-arrests-bay-area-systematic-racism/6243588/)

Just to mention an obvious example..

The TGI Justice Project's (TGIJP) mission is to challenge and end the human rights abuses committed against transgender, gender variant/genderqueer and intersex (TGI) people in California prisons and beyond.

Help fund this!

MAJOR: A new documentary film about transgender elder and pioneering civil rights activist Miss Major.

"Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a Black transgender woman, a formerly incarcerated person, a former sex worker, an elder, a community leader, and an internationally-recognized human rights activist. From the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion to her current work as Executive Director of the Transgender GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), she’s worked tirelessly for transgender rights for over 40 years. Miss Major has rallied in front of government officials and spoken around the world, but her most enduring legacy has been uniquely personal. She’s been the emergency phone call, the helping hand, and the surrogate mother to an entire community of transgender women whom she’s supported, mentored, and helped mold into the next generation of community leaders."