LID members attended the 8th Annual #TransLatinxMarch on Monday to raise awareness to the continued systemic discrimination many Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming/Intersex individuals, many of them people of color, face in NYC. Originating from the activism of many trans leaders in Jackson Heights, the March advocates for the rights of the T-GNCIQ community in NYC and beyond to feel safe in their communities and pursue social equality through the end of transphobia and homophobia.

#TransLatinxMarch on Twitter

Under the leadership of immigrant advocacy organization Make The Road NY, the March was attended by many other immigrant & Trans-led organizations and politicians such as NYC Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and State Senator Jessica Ramos. Said Ramos in a speech before the March: “As a State Senator these past 6 months, for me it’s always been about ensuring every single one of our neighbors, doesn’t matter who they are, who they love, how they identified, are protected. We need to fight for resources, not raids.”

Trans advocate Cecilia Gentili was also present as she highlighted the discrimination sex workers, many of them T-GNCIQ people of color, face from ICE and local law enforcement: “If we’re not taking care of each other, then what are we doing. How am I not gonna do activism when my sister died in Rikers Island, when my people are in cages at the border, when my sisters are criminalized for doing sex work?”

500 trans immigrants and allies marched down Roosevelt Ave to 37th Ave before circling back in front of a Chase bank, where attendees sat on the sidewalk in silence to honor friends and family who have died in immigrant detention facilities and prisons. JPMorgan Chase is one of 4 major US banks that has pledged to stop financing immigrant detention; the others including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and SunTrust.