A note from leadership on preventing bias and discrimination within Louisiana Trans Advocates:
Our Statement of Principles reads:
“Trans liberation depends on the empowerment of intersecting communities that experience systemic oppression, especially people of color, the poor, immigrants, people with disabilities, and women and femme-identified people.”
To that end, Louisiana Trans Advocates is invested in promoting and ensuring equal opportunity to participate in social support and programs for all persons without regard to race, creed, citizenship, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, height or weight, disability, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, partnership status, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, military status, domestic violence survivor status, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, prior arrest or conviction record, or any other characteristic.
The experiences of many of our POC members, as well as the research done by countless academics and the National Center for Transgender Equality, shows clearly that trans people of color experience violence and discrimination at higher rates than white trans people. Our mission to advance the core human rights of self-determination and expression for all trans, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people in Louisiana can only be successful if it addresses the specific experiences of trans people of color in our communities.
Unfortunately, there are times when these values aren’t embraced by our full membership. However, we are entirely committed to ensuring a positive social support climate for trans people of color and nonbinary people. If you experience racism, sexism, or bias based on any of the characteristics listed above from within the LTA community (in the form of an overt bias incident, micro-aggression, or any other form), please report this to the leadership so that we can discuss your experience with you and take action.
We will base next steps on our discussion with you and will be transparent with you about what actions are taken. These actions could include removing a member, temporarily or permanently, engaging in restorative justice between members, and/or the board helping to educated a member struggling to adapt to our equity lens.
You can contact Dylan Waguespack, the board president, directly at 504-450-7496 or dylan@latransadvocates.org. Alternatively, you can contact any of our board members at the email addresses linked on the leadership page of the website or initiate a conversation with us via the form below.
Thank you,
Board of Directors