#ProtectTransKids on Give OUT Day and DOUBLE your impact!
This Thursday April 18 is Give OUT Day, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community. We're asking for your help raising $6,000 to support our work fighting for N.H. and strengthening protections for all trans students in Minnesota.
Gender Justice is a small and mighty nonprofit fighting to advance gender equity through the law. With your generous support, we use litigation and policy advocacy to break down gender barriers and uphold basic human rights—regardless of any client’s ability to pay.
We are busier than ever fighting to protect #TransRights. In February, we filed a lawsuit in partnership with the ACLU of Minnesota, asserting that the Anoka-Hennepin School District violated the Minnesota constitution and Human Rights Act by singling out and discriminating against transgender student N.H., and failing to provide him with an equal education.
The lawsuit describes how the school administration barred N.H. from using the locker room that matched his gender identify, as he had for months alongside his fellow without incident as a member of the swim team. Instead N.H. was forced to use segregated changing facilities no other student was required to use, which led to bullying and threats to him and his mother.
Adding insult to injury, Anoka-Hennepin has been cited before – recently! – for failing to protect its LGBTQ students. The district faced legal scrutiny following a series of student suicides from 2010-2012, leading to a lawsuit and a five-year Justice Department consent decree that expired in March of 2017.
And we’re far from alone in our concern. Not even a month after our case was filed, the Minnesota attorney general stepped in on behalf of the Department of Human Rights (MDHR). The state’s complaint alleges, as we did, that the school district’s policy constitutes discrimination against transgender students. It not only violates the law, but also the school’s essential role as a safe learning environment.
By intervening, the state of Minnesota affirms the value of the lawsuits we file, and the clients we represent. We’re grateful for such a vote of confidence in our work, and proud to say this isn’t the first time we’ve received it – earlier in March, the Office of the Attorney General filed a case on behalf of the state against CSL Plasma for refusing to allow a transgender woman to donate plasma. That woman, Alice James, is our client, and we have been representing her in her charge of discrimination filed with the MDHR. Gender Justice will be filing a motion to intervene on behalf of Ms. James, so that she, too, can be represented in the case.
When agencies intervene in our cases, they are affirming the value and impact of our work. With your support, we are breaking down gender barriers every day.
ON #GIVEOUTDAY EVERY DOLLAR YOU GIVE TO GENDER JUSTICE WILL GO DIRECTLY TO OUR WORK FIGHTING FOR TRANS RIGHTS. AND THIS YEAR WE HAVE A GENEROUS $3,000 MATCH THAT WILL DOUBLE YOUR GIFT.
If you believe in the groundbreaking work of Gender Justice, Give OUT Day is the perfect time to show your support with a gift. By helping us reach our $6,000 fundraising goal you make it possible for us to break down the gender barriers holding trans and nonbinary folks back from thriving in the world.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY. YOUR HELP MAKES OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
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