️‍⚧️#Letters4TransKids️‍⚧️

Since@inafried started #Letters4TransKids in defiance of this recent wave of anti-trans and LGBTQ+ legislation, we knew we HAD to write one, too! Read the letter from our ED, Brian Wenke, and join in to write your own letter using the hashtag #Letters4TransKids:

“Dear Rockstar,

Adults seem to have an easy time forgetting what it’s like to be young. I am dumbfounded daily by the vitriol adults are purposely casting at LGBTQ+ youth, particularly our beloved trans community.

Despite what may appear to be a rising tide of negative sentiment directed at you and your peers, I can’t help but see it as the dying breath of an outdated form of conditioning. We’ve been here before. It won’t last, but it won’t go down without a fight.

If any of the individuals trying to limit your freedoms met you, they would understand how important you are. You elevate the world’s understanding of what it means to be human - a beautiful sentient being with an experience so complex modern language cannot describe it. Your value transcends the hateful rhetoric of a loud minority. I promise you, there are more people in this world who will fight for your existence than those who seek to diminish it.

I will fight for you. The It Gets Better Project will fight for you. Countless millions will fight for you without question. Open yourself up to the love coming your way. Be you, unapologetically, and show by example of your life the joy that can come from it. You are loved, and you are a f***ing rockstar!

Stay Proud, Brian”

Since 2008, FIERCE has been working to get a 24-hour LGBTQ drop-in center built in the West Village. After five years of organizing this campaign, FIERCE has decided to close out the Our SPOT campaign and turn our focus and energy to organizing against police harassment and for continued access for LGBTQ youth to safe public space along the Hudson River Park.  The Our SPOT Campaign has brought together hundreds of people and together, we have experienced many victories, challenges and lessons learned.  

Please join us for light snacks, good music, fierce people, and a night of celebration and honor!

The evening will include a campaign gallery walk and a panel presentation with FIERCE Lead Organizer John Blasco, former FIERCE Lead Organizer Desiree Marshall, Dylan House from Hester Street Collaborative and Alexa Kasdan from Urban Justice Center.

EVENT DETAILS

Date and Time: Wednesday, December 4 from 6 - 9pm

Dress Code: Whatever feels most fabulous or comfortable!

Transit: F1ERC to 23rd Street

Questions?: email [email protected]!

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SHIFTING OUR FOCUS TO A BROADER VISION

We know that our organizing work to get a 24-hour LGBTQ drop in center cannot be fully realized without maintaining the West Village as a safe space for our community—free of violence and harassment from the police, each other, and other communities.

FIERCE is bringing our focus to organizing against police harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ youth and relationship building between different stakeholders in the community. To successfully shape a West Village where everyone can thrive, we must build trust with each other and support each other’s efforts to achieve a vision of the West Village as a safe space that meets our needs.

This vision can only be accomplished by continuing to build new relationships and maintain existing relationships with stakeholders and other community members like allies from across the city who envision a safer NYC for everyone.