This week Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice and Co-Chair of the Gender Policy Council Julissa Reynoso hosted a roundtable at the White House with transgender women of color advocates from around the country. This event was the first in a series of listening sessions that will be convened by the White House-led Interagency Working Group on Safety, Inclusion, and Opportunity for Transgender Individuals, which was announced by the White House in June.
Participants discussed the epidemic levels of violence and harassment faced by transgender women and girls of color. They noted that discrimination, homelessness, intimate partner violence, poverty, unemployment, immigration and other systemic barriers take a disproportionate toll on transgender women and girls of color and are drivers of the violence visited upon transgender women of color. Participants shared their policy recommendations for advancing economic justice, opportunity, health equity, and safety for transgender individuals. They also highlighted the strength, resilience, and hope that drive their advocacy and the importance of creating more opportunities to lift up diverse voices from the transgender community and support their leadership.
Ambassador Rice and Co-Chair Reynoso shared their appreciation for the advocacy and policy recommendations provided by the participants. They reiterated that the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to advancing justice, opportunity, and safety for transgender women of color and all LGBTQ+ people and families in America. They emphasized that the Domestic Policy Council and Gender Policy Council will take an intersectional approach to advancing gender equity and racial justice as they lead the Interagency Working Group on Safety, Inclusion, and Opportunity for Transgender Individuals.
Participants in today’s roundtable included:
- Tori Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, Human Rights Campaign
- Ruby Corado, Founder, Casa Ruby
- Sage Dolan-Sandrino, youth advocate, National Black Justice Institute
- Andrea “Andy” Marra, Executive Director, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
- Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO, The TransLatin@ Coalition
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