Attach to Form 990 or Form 990-EZ.
Go to
www.irs.gov/Form990 for instructions and the latest information.
| (i) Name of supported organization | (ii) EIN | (iii) Type of organization (described on lines 1- 10 above (see instructions)) | (iv) Is the organization listed in your governing document? | (v) Amount of monetary support (see instructions) | (vi) Amount of other support (see instructions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | |||||
|
Total |
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Calendar year (or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees received. (Do not include any "unusual grant.") .. | 2,888,498 | 4,845,084 | 5,030,379 | 5,668,444 | 18,798,629 | 37,231,034 |
| 2 | Tax revenues levied for the organization's benefit and either paid to or expended on its behalf.... | 0 | |||||
| 3 | The value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge.. | 0 | |||||
| 4 | Total. Add lines 1 through 3 | 2,888,498 | 4,845,084 | 5,030,379 | 5,668,444 | 18,798,629 | 37,231,034 |
| 5 | The portion of total contributions by each person (other than a governmental unit or publicly supported organization) included on line 1 that exceeds 2% of the amount shown on line 11, column (f).. | 4,850,909 | |||||
| 6 | Public support. Subtract line 5 from line 4. | 32,380,125 | |||||
Calendar year
(or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Amounts from line 4.. | 2,888,498 | 4,845,084 | 5,030,379 | 5,668,444 | 18,798,629 | 37,231,034 |
| 8 | Gross income from interest, dividends, payments received on securities loans, rents, royalties and income from similar sources... | 23,364 | 24,271 | 41,147 | 49,010 | 47,718 | 185,510 |
| 9 | Net income from unrelated business activities, whether or not the business is regularly carried on.. | ||||||
| 10 | Other income. Do not include gain or loss from the sale of capital assets (Explain in Part VI.).. | 12,171 | 13,474 | 3,093 | 44,342 | 21,384 | 94,464 |
| 11 | Total support. Add lines 7 through 10 | 37,511,008 | |||||
Calendar year (or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees received. (Do not include any "unusual grants.") . | ||||||
| 2 | Gross receipts from admissions, merchandise sold or services performed, or facilities furnished in any activity that is related to the organization's tax-exempt purpose | ||||||
| 3 | Gross receipts from activities that are not an unrelated trade or business under section 513 ..... | ||||||
| 4 | Tax revenues levied for the organization's benefit and either paid to or expended on its behalf... | ||||||
| 5 | The value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge | ||||||
| 6 | Total. Add lines 1 through 5 | ||||||
| 7a | Amounts included on lines 1, 2, and 3 received from disqualified persons | ||||||
| b | Amounts included on lines 2 and 3 received from other than disqualified persons that exceed the greater of $5,000 or 1% of the amount on line 13 for the year. | ||||||
| c | Add lines 7a and 7b.. | ||||||
| 8 | Public support. (Subtract line 7c from line 6.) | ||||||
Calendar year (or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Amounts from line 6... | ||||||
| 10a | Gross income from interest, dividends, payments received on securities loans, rents, royalties and income from similar sources.. | ||||||
| b | Unrelated business taxable income (less section 511 taxes) from businesses acquired after June 30, 1975. | ||||||
| c | Add lines 10a and 10b. | ||||||
| 11 | Net income from unrelated business activities not included in line 10b, whether or not the business is regularly carried on. | ||||||
| 12 | Other income. Do not include gain or loss from the sale of capital assets (Explain in Part VI.) .. | ||||||
| 13 | Total support. (Add lines 9, 10c, 11, and 12.).. | ||||||
| Section A - Adjusted Net Income | (A) Prior Year |
(B) Current Year (optional) |
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| 1 | Net short-term capital gain | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Recoveries of prior-year distributions | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Other gross income (see instructions) | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Add lines 1 through 3 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Depreciation and depletion | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Portion of operating expenses paid or incurred for production or collection of gross income or for management, conservation, or maintenance of property held for production of income (see instructions) | 6 | ||||
| 7 | Other expenses (see instructions) | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Adjusted Net Income (subtract lines 5, 6 and 7 from line 4) | 8 | ||||
| Section B - Minimum Asset Amount | (A) Prior Year |
(B) Current Year (optional) |
||||
| 1 | Aggregate fair market value of all non-exempt-use assets (see instructions for short tax year or assets held for part of year): | 1 | ||||
| a | Average monthly value of securities | 1a | ||||
| b | Average monthly cash balances | 1b | ||||
| c | Fair market value of other non-exempt-use assets | 1c | ||||
| d | Total (add lines 1a, 1b, and 1c) | 1d | ||||
| e |
Discount claimed for blockage or other factors (explain in detail in Part VI): |
|||||
| 2 | Acquisition indebtedness applicable to non-exempt use assets | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Subtract line 2 from line 1d | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Cash deemed held for exempt use. Enter 0.015 of line 3 (for greater amount, see instructions). | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Net value of non-exempt-use assets (subtract line 4 from line 3) | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Multiply line 5 by 0.035 | 6 | ||||
| 7 | Recoveries of prior-year distributions | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Minimum Asset Amount (add line 7 to line 6) | 8 | ||||
| Section C - Distributable Amount | Current Year | |||||
| 1 | Adjusted net income for prior year (from Section A, line 8, Column A) | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Enter 85% of line 1 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Minimum asset amount for prior year (from Section B, line 8, Column A) | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Enter greater of line 2 or line 3 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Income tax imposed in prior year | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Distributable Amount. Subtract line 5 from line 4, unless subject to emergency temporary reduction (see instructions) | 6 | ||||
| Section D - Distributions | Current Year | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Amounts paid to supported organizations to accomplish exempt purposes | 1 | |
|
2
Amounts paid to perform activity that directly furthers exempt purposes of supported organizations, in excess of income from activity |
2 | |
| 3 Administrative expenses paid to accomplish exempt purposes of supported organizations | 3 | |
| 4 Amounts paid to acquire exempt-use assets | 4 | |
| 5 Qualified set-aside amounts (prior IRS approval required - provide details in Part VI) | 5 | |
| 6 Other distributions (describe in Part VI). See instructions | 6 | |
| 7Total annual distributions. Add lines 1 through 6. | 7 | |
|
8
Distributions to attentive supported organizations to which the organization is responsive (provide details in Part VI). See instructions |
8 | |
| 9 Distributable amount for 2020 from Section C, line 6 | 9 | |
| 10 Line 8 amount divided by Line 9 amount | 10 | |
| Section E - Distribution Allocations (see instructions) |
(i) Excess Distributions |
(ii) Underdistributions Pre-2020 |
(iii) Distributable Amount for 2020 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Distributable amount for 2020 from Section C, line 6 | ||||
|
2
Underdistributions, if any, for years prior to 2019 (reasonable cause required-- explain in Part VI). See instructions. |
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| 3 Excess distributions carryover, if any, to 2020: | ||||
| a From 2015....... | ||||
| b From 2016....... | ||||
| c From 2017....... | ||||
| d From 2018....... | ||||
| e From 2019....... | ||||
| fTotal of lines 3a through e | ||||
| g Applied to underdistributions of prior years | ||||
| h Applied to 2020 distributable amount | ||||
|
i
Carryover from 2015 not applied (see instructions) |
||||
| j Remainder. Subtract lines 3g, 3h, and 3i from line 3f. | ||||
| 4Distributions for 2020 from Section D, line 7: | ||||
| $ | ||||
| a Applied to underdistributions of prior years | ||||
| b Applied to 2020 distributable amount | ||||
| c Remainder. Subtract lines 4a and 4b from line 4. | ||||
|
5
Remaining underdistributions for years prior to 2020, if any. Subtract lines 3g and 4a from line 2. If the amount is greater than zero, explain in Part VI. See instructions. |
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|
6
Remaining underdistributions for 2020. Subtract lines 3h and 4b from line 1. If the amount is greater than zero, explain in Part VI. See instructions. |
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|
7 Excess distributions carryover to 2021. Add lines 3j and 4c. |
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| 8 Breakdown of line 7: | ||||
| a Excess from 2016..... | ||||
| b Excess from 2017..... | ||||
| c Excess from 2018..... | ||||
| d Excess from 2019..... | ||||
| e Excess from 2020..... | ||||
| Facts And Circumstances Test |
|---|
| Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Support Schedule: Other Income Explanation | From time to time, miscellaneous funds are received during the course of performing the organization's tax-exempt function. |
| Software ID: | 20011566 |
| Software Version: | 2020v4.0 |
Attach to Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Go to www.irs.gov/Form990 for the latest information.
| Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Form 990, Part III, Line 2: New Services | Border Butterflies Project and Disability Justice Project are new programs. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4d: Other Program Services Description | OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: BLACK LGBTQIA+ MIGRANT PROJECT: "Free Sza Sza" Campaign - BLMP advocated successfully on behalf of a 52-year-old Jamaican trans woman in immigration detention. Sza Sza was released from detention in late 2020. We also worked to secure the release of over 10 other detainees, and launched the first cohort of our Malaika Network of community members with experience in immigration detention who receive training to support deportation defense and assist Black LGBTQ+ migrants post-release from detention. BLMP served as a plaintiff in Immigration Equality et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, challenging the Trump administration's policies to essentially eliminate asylum. (Cont'd at Schedule O) OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 6: POLICY & ORGANIZING: The past year has been unusual and challenging in many ways, as we adapted to meet the challenges of COVID-19, the uprisings for Black lives, and the tensions of a particularly vitriolic election year. We closed our offices and provided supplies and resources for staff to work from home; cancelled in-person gatherings and staff travel, instituted regular community calls (https://transgenderlawcenter.org/resources/covid19); released a guide on life planning documents for TGNC communities; advocated for trans inclusion in relief and mutual aid programs; and doubled down on work to support the release of vulnerable trans people from prison and immigration detention. (Cont'd at Schedule O) OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 7: BLACK TRANS CIRCLES: In May-June 2020, TLC's Black Trans Circles program and the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) collaborated on a new training format - a virtual "Freedom School" for Black trans women/femmes (U.S.-born and immigrant) that met weekly to build skills and leadership. This happened when communities were heavily impacted by the pandemic (including its significant racial disparities), when Black Lives Matter uprisings were also happening, and when a number of murders of Black trans people took place. In this context, we were able to lift up the voices of Black trans women and Black trans migrants at a moment when our voices and experience were particularly relevant and needed at the national level. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 8: DISABILITY PROJECT: The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the lives and wellbeing of people with disabilities and chronic illness in new ways, as debates about who deserves care and vaccines have evidenced a shocking and largely unchecked ableism. LGBTQ+ people with disabilities were already multiply-marginalized, and this project had to swiftly pivot from in-person meetings for networking and power-building to providing critical support as community members navigated grief and elevated practical barriers in pandemic conditions. The Project secured and distributed mutual aid resources via its Community Advisory Board. We also took an increased role in media and communications to lift up the voices of LGBTQ+ disabled people and challenge pervasive ableism - notably, we were able to do an Instagram Live takeover of Amy Poehler's IG account. We also continued to develop modules for our disability justice curriculum that will initially be delivered to Ford Foundation BUILD grantees; strengthened the design and development of a planned needs assessment; laid the groundwork for community-based participatory research focusing on the experience of violence; and contributed to ongoing development of the Defining Ourselves pillar of the Trans Agenda. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Line 4: Description of Significant Changes to Organizational Documents | TLC revised its By-Laws in 2019 to increase the terms of board members to three years and updated the address. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Line 11b: Form 990 Review Process | The Board reviews an electronic copy of the 990 after it has been reviewed by the Executive Director and Treasurer with the preparer. Each member of the Board is provided with an electronic copy of the draft 990 document, before it is filed. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c: Explanation of Monitoring and Enforcement of Conflicts | Each member of the Board is required to execute a conflict of interest statement upon joining the Board and annually thereafter. Conflicts of interest are reviewed by board members unrelated to the conflict, and members with conflicts of interest are required to recuse themselves from board decisions that involve these conflicts of interest. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Line 15a: Compensation Review & Approval Process - CEO, Top Management | The Executive Director's salary review is based on a survey of regional and industry comparable salaries, as benchmarked by nonprofit compensation studies, and approved by a committee of the Board. This process was last conducted in 2020. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Line 15b: Compensation Review and Approval Process for Officers and Key Employees | Annual salary reviews of other officers and key employees are based on survey of regional and industry comparable salaries, as benchmarked by nonprofit compensation studies. This process was last conducted in 2020. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Line 19: Other Organization Documents Publicly Available | The Organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4a - Program Service Accomplishments | (cont'd from Page 2) In our programmatic work with activists, we were able to provide stipends and/or other support to vulnerable community leaders who continued to work with us through this difficult time, helping to meet the immediate needs of trans people, especially BIPOC trans women and girls. In response to the uprisings, TLC developed a plan to uplift the voices of Black trans community members, engaged in collaborative education work about defunding the police, and deepened our internal work addressing anti-Black racism. This specifically included making it possible for Black staff to have the capacity to engage in relevant efforts locally where they are based, and having court and arrest support available for staff. We coordinated a "defund the police" support letter and received over 170 signatures and subsequently hosted a two-day LGBTQ+ "Defund Intensive" in collaboration with SONG, Freedom INC., and Movement for Black Lives. Over 80 people who signed the "defund the police" letter attended. Similarly, with regard to the election, we made extensive plans to be able to organize community calls both before and after the election, hear and address community concerns and questions, and provide information on voting rights; and to ensure that election day requests to our Helpline could have a same-day response. We hosted the Trans Institute (in English and Spanish) in the context of the annual Creating Change conference in Dallas in January 2020. Over 200 people, majority people of color, attended. We used the framework of the newly created Trans Agenda for Liberation to engage activists from across the U.S. to think about how to bring this work back to their local communities. This event was a "soft launch" of the Trans Agenda, which had a more formal national launch in March 2020. The Trans Agenda was developed over the course of 2019 by a group of Black, Indigenous, and people of color trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming leaders and advocates from across the U.S., convened under the aegis of TLC. The Trans Agenda for Liberation provides a framework for transforming national policy conversations and energizing organizing for transgender liberation. It marks the first phase of a deep, long-term, national, community conversation, not its conclusion. It builds on and was conceived by movement building and leadership development that TLC and other trans led organizations have led nationally and regionally for years. The Trans Agenda represents an opportunity to elevate a vision for the kind of world TGNC people need and want that is deeply grounded in work that communities and activists are already doing, with priority placed on centering the leadership and efforts of those who are often most marginalized in current systems of power. The pillars of the Trans Agenda are as follows: Pillar: Black Trans Women and Femmes Living & Leading Fiercely: Black trans women must be trusted to lead. Black trans feminine people hold the expertise and solutions to end violence in our communities. We hold the knowledge to create a world where Black trans feminine people have the freedom to thrive. We envision a world where Black trans folks have equitable access to health care, housing, bodily autonomy, and intergenerational connection. Pillar: Beloved Home: Trans people belong. We demand a movement that honors Native, Indigenous, and Black migrant transgender, gender non-conforming, nonbinary, and two spirit peoples by centering their leadership. Indigenous or migrant, we understand that our relationship to this land that is our home is as important as our relationship to ourselves and each other. We demand a world where Indigenous cultural practices, land and body sovereignty are respected, where trans people are never forced to leave our homes, and where we have the freedom of movement to seek out our own belonging. Pillar: Defining Ourselves: Our bodies are our own. We demand a world where the health care we need is readily available, and where our bodies, HIV statuses, disabilities, and viral loads are no longer policed and criminalized. We envision a world where disabled, Deaf, sick, and Mad people are guaranteed complete self-determination and resources to live their fullest lives. We demand the freedom to define ourselves and our futures, free of nonconsensual procedures and gatekeeping. Pillar: Intergenerational Connection and Lifelong Care: Our communities are only as strong as our relationships and care for trans people of every age. We envision a world where all trans people are affirmed from the moment of their birth and are empowered as their authentic selves at home, at school, and in public life. All trans people deserve a long and fulfilling life. We are building a movement that values the beauty of youth and elder wisdom, and understands that aging is nothing to be feared. Pillar: Freedom To Thrive: Trans people deserve the freedom to thrive. We demand a world without cages. We envision a world where people in sex work economies have rights and protections, and where sex work is no longer used as a justification for violence and harm. We demand not only freedom, but active community support in building lives for ourselves and our families on our own terms. Although we undertook some rollout of the Trans Agenda for Liberation during 2020 - including a more detailed launch of its first two "pillars," as the pandemic's hold deepened and the news cycles became more chaotic, we recognized that it was more strategic to plan for a wider launch in 2021, and shifted gears to prepare for that. Throughout the year, we worked with members of the National TGNC Coalition, who benefited from spokesperson training, to share it widely with trans groups from the grassroots to the national level and with allies. We were thrilled that grassroots trans groups recognized themselves in its vision and took it on as an organizing tool for their work. We also built the demands of our transition memo to the Biden administration around it. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4b - Program Service Accomplishments | (cont'd from Page 2) BLMP organized our 2020 pilot Fierce Freedom School for 12 Black trans women and femmes, in collaboration with Transgender Law Center, bringing together migrant and U.S.-born Black trans women for two months of weekly, virtual leadership development. As this took place during the initial uprisings in response to George Floyd's murder and in the context of a number of murders of Black trans women, we were able to lift up the voices of participants on social media and in the press at this critical moment. We launched the BLMP Garifuna Committee, engaging members of this Afrolatinx community with its own culture and language, especially in New York, New Orleans, and Houston. This network rapidly grew from fewer than 20 participants to more than 60. We collaborated in successful efforts to create a public fund in Houston for migrants at risk of deportation to get free legal representation. In the context of COVID-19, we distributed more than $200,000 in mutual aid to vulnerable Black LGBTQIA+ migrant community members. BLMP designed and implemented the first national survey of Black LGBTQIA+ Migrants. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we collected 300+ surveys and are preparing to publicly launch our findings. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4c - Program Service Accomplishments | (cont'd from Page 2) In April 2020, with co-counsel, we filed a class action suit demanding the release of all transgender detainees because of ICE's failure to keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was ultimately dismissed because all but one of our named defendants were released from detention. (The remaining defendant was deported despite the efforts of her immigration attorneys.) Our advocacy on the case made a real difference in securing the release of our named plaintiffs. In July 2020, TLC submitted an extensive comment opposing the administration's proposed asylum rule which would make it almost impossible for any asylum seeker to be eligible for asylum. We focused on the real-life experiences of project participants from the LGBTQ+ border project in which we collaborate to highlight the horrific impact of this potential rule. TLC is also serving as a plaintiff in Immigration Equality et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, challenging this rule. With the border project, we drafted a 40-page affidavit on the catastrophic impact this rule will have. In January 2021, the judge issued a preliminary injunction for the entire rule nationwide. We also continued to advance our efforts to hold ICE and its contractors responsible in the death of trans Honduran migrant Roxsana Hernandez while in ICE custody. In order to preserve liability of all possible actors who were responsible for Roxsana?s care, in May 2020 we filed a complaint against all companies who contracted with ICE and had Roxsana in their custody. We brought 21 counts against these companies for violations of the Rehabilitation Act, state-based negligence claims, negligence per se claims, negligent hiring, retention, training, and supervision claims, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims because the FTCA does not apply to contractors. We have continued to add co-counsel, take steps to secure evidence from ICE and various contractors, and identify expert witnesses. Healthcare Access: In July 2020, with the National Women's Law Center, the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School, and law firm Hogan Lovells, TLC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to challenge the Trump administration?s June 2020 rule undermining the Affordable Care Act?s protections which prohibit discrimination in health care on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and sex?including pregnancy, gender identity, and sex stereotyping. Identity Documents: In May 2020, Indiana Legal Services, Inc., Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Law Office of Barbara J. Baird, and TLC won an important victory on behalf of two transgender immigrant clients who had been seeking legal name changes. A Court of Appeals of Indiana unanimously held that a state name-change law does not require a petitioner to be a U.S. citizen to change their name, making it now legal for all people in Indiana to change their name regardless of their immigration status. TLC took the lead in a detailed amicus brief in the appeal of an Oregon case about nonbinary gender markers on IDs. JH petitioned their local court for an order recognizing their nonbinary gender in April 2019. The judge denied JH's petition in an order that evinced clear misunderstandings about nonbinary people, trans people, intersex people, and the relevant law. In June, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled in favor JH's right to a nonbinary gender marker. To our knowledge, this is the first state appellate court decision to say that lower courts can and should issue nonbinary gender change orders even where the statute doesn't explicitly mention a nonbinary option. Employment, Housing, and Public Accommodations: TLC was thrilled at the victory against employment discrimination secured in June 2020 at the U.S. Supreme Court in Bostock v. Clayton County. As you may recall, we worked with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Akerman LLP to draft a "transgender voices" amicus brief (signed by 35+ nonprofits across the country) that included stories of TGNC people, prioritizing TGNC people of color, illustrating the formidable challenges that trans people face trying to make a living in America because of rampant discrimination. In September 2020, TLC filed a 33-page comment opposing the Trump Department of Housing and Urban Development's attempt to eliminate protections for trans people in federally funded homeless shelters. Our comment tells the stories of several Black and Latina trans women, including three Positively Trans steering committee members who survived homelessness to become fierce advocates, and three young trans women whose experiences with homelessness ultimately led to their deaths. In a public accommodations victory, we secured a settlement with cash damages as well as requirements for training and other corrective measures on behalf of TN, who was denied access to the women's restroom and denigrated by an employee of the San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints. Prisons: We sustained litigation in TLC's first-ever class action Raven, et al. v. Polis, et al., on behalf of all incarcerated trans women in Colorado. Our complaint seeks damages and injunctive relief related to CDOC's exclusion of trans women from Colorado's women's prisons; as well as failure to provide trans-competent medical and mental health providers, adequate medical treatment for gender dysphoria, including surgery; failure to protect trans women from sexual assault and anti-trans violence; refusal to use proper names, pronouns, and honorifics for trans women; and the policy of assigning male staff to conduct pat-downs and strip searches of trans women. We rely only on state law claims because Colorado has a progressive state supreme court, and we wanted to avoid the possibility of this case going before the Tenth Circuit, the conservative federal appellate court that governs Colorado. In a particularly significant ruling, a judge ruled against the government's motion to dismiss on several grounds, including holding that our case can proceed in seeking injunctive relief under our state constitutional claims, finding that Colorado's prisons qualify as places of public accommodations, and that our clients may seek monetary relief under Colorado's public accommodations non-discrimination statutes. The holding that prisons qualify as public accommodations has potentially broad implications: many states' non-discrimination laws technically apply to those states' prison and jail systems, yet claims under those statutes are rarely brought, and state non-discrimination agencies rarely assert their jurisdiction over prison and jail systems. State non-discrimination agencies represent a largely untapped and lower-barrier avenue for incarcerated people to assert their rights. We also secured a ruling that we can sue the governor. TLC worked extensively to engage with trans prisoners in California to inform negotiations regarding SB 132, which was signed into law in 2020. It is the strongest policy of its kind allowing for incarcerated trans people to choose to be housed based on gender identity rather than genitals. Now prisons cannot deny a trans person's transfer request based on any factor that is already present amongst the cisgender population they are requesting to transfer into. This change will have a significant impact on the safety and wellbeing of incarcerated trans people. Working with coalition members, we have developed FAQs for prisoners, looking forward to implementation. We will continue to work with coalition members on regulations and other implementation issues as they arise to ensure that this law protects and promotes the safety and wellbeing of transgender prisoners. In the past year, our Prison Mail Program responded to 485 requests for assistance. Legal Services Project: In the past 12 months, we responded to 999 requests for assistance to our Helpline. In addition, we organized two in-person legal clinics prior to shelter-in-place orders and one virtual one, directly assisting 40 individuals. We have also provided technical assistance to a number of California virtual name and gender change legal clinics. |
| Software ID: | 20011566 |
| Software Version: | 2020v4.0 |