The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) is a legal aid

Legal aid

Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial.A number of...

 organization based in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 that serves transgender

Transgender

Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....

, intersex

Intersex

Intersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...

 and gender non-conforming people. The organization was formed in August 2002 by attorney and transgender civil rights activist, Dean Spade

Dean Spade

Dean Spade is a lawyer, civil rights activist, writer, and Assistant Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law. In 2002, he founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a non-profit law collective in New York City that provides free legal services to transgender, intersex and gender...

. The project was named for Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rae Rivera was an American transgender activist. Rivera was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and helped found STAR , a group dedicated to helping homeless young street trans women, with her friend Marsha P...

, a transgender activist and veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Riots

Stonewall riots

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...

, who died the same year that SRLP was formed.

Mission Statement

"The Sylvia Rivera Law Project works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity

Gender identity

A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...

 and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. Therefore, we seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. We believe that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, we must have access to basic means of survival and safety from violence."

Goals

The goals of the organization are to provide access to legal services for low-income transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people, provide public education and policy reform to end state-sanctioned discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression. The organization also aims to build a collective organization that develops the leadership of low-income transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming people of color while participating in the larger movement for racial, social, and economic justice.

Areas of Work

SRLP's lawyers and grassroots activists work on a variety of causes, including anti-discrimination, criminal justice, gender-segregated facilities, and identity documents.

See also

• LGBT rights in the United States
• List of LGBT rights organizations
• List of transgender-related topics
• The New York Foundation