Transgender and Gender Variant Communities and Incarceration

Transgender and Gender Variant Communities and Incarceration: A Workshop and Letter Writing Party with Hearts on a Wire

Location: University of Pennsylvania campus, Caster Building, room D28 (http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/maps/locations/caster-building)

Presented by Queer SP2, Criminal Justice Bloc, and the Association of Black Social Workers, Penn chapter
Lunch will be provided

This event is free and open to the public. RSVP appreciated: http://goo.gl/forms/6ZhifShxRx

The Caster building and workshop space are wheelchair accessible

About the workshop:

This workshop will provide an overview of the issues facing incarcerated transgender and gender variant (“T/GV”) individuals and a roadmap of how advocates on the outside can provide support and facilitate the growth of inside leadership. We will begin by introducing our organization and explain how voices on the inside drive our work and set our priorities. We will then discuss our deeply held beliefs about the realities of the prison industrial complex and how it affects T/GV folks in particular. Finally, we will provide a guide on how to support and facilitate community building and agency of folks on the inside by exploring the development and execution of several of our campaigns and their outcomes. We hope that participants will walk away with a clearer understanding of the conditions that T/GV folks face while incarcerated and armed with practical strategies for advocating for and organizing alongside T/GV incarcerated individuals.

The workshop will be followed by a letter writing party, wherein workshop attendees can write letters or create mail art to send to incarcerated transgender, gender variant, and queer folks. This is one way that advocates on the outside can engage in direct support work with and for T/GV and queer folks on the inside.

Please RSVP at: http://goo.gl/forms/6ZhifShxRx

Please contact Em Gormley at egormley@sp2.upenn.edu with any questions.