Sylvia Rivera Law Project

Founding and History

In 2002, trans activist Dean Spade was arrested for using a male restroom. Spade expressed concern with the quality of his court-appointed legal counsel and feelings of fear and uncertainty prior to the trial. After the charges were dropped, Spade began the Sylvia Rivera Law Project to promote trans issues and provide legal services to trans people in need. ^{1 2}

In keeping with its revolutionary principles, SRLP is organized as a collective, of which more than 50 percent of the staff and board are people of color and at least 50 percent are transgender. ²

SRLP is named after Sylvia Rivera, a transgender activist who participated in the Stonewall Riot. SRLP states that it is continuing her work through its focus on poverty, racism, and trans-discrimination issues. ³

Financial Information

In fiscal year 2018, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project had $118,237 in revenue of which $947,578 was derived from contributions and grants and $134,774 was derived from program service revenue. SRLP had $891,545 in expenses, of which employee salary and benefits made up $593,018. At the end of the fiscal year 2018 SRLP reported $1,951,743 in assets. ⁴

Organizational Principles

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is firmly based in the principles of critical theory. The organization is non-hierarchical and states that it fights for “gender liberation” and the to overthrow the “systems of oppression” by training and uniting “all oppressed people” to “end all forms of oppression”. SRLP states that it is not enough to reform the system, but that the system is actually the problem. ⁵

Legal Services

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project divides its legal assistance into three projects.

Survival and Self Determination Project

SRLP’s Survival and Self Determination Project is focused on assisting low-income trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex (TGNCI) people navigate the New York City bureaucracy to gain access to benefits and services. These services include assistance with legal name changes, updating ID card gender, acquiring government and non-government assistance, and help navigating trans-related healthcare access. SRLP staff will also accompany trans people to government offices or agencies. The project provides training to law firms and government agencies and hospitals to be more trans-affirming. ⁶

Immigrant Justice Project

SRLP’s Immigrant Justice Project works to assist TGNCI immigrants by representing them in their immigration applications, adjustment of immigrant status, and securing gender-affirming documents, such as green cards. The project also works to increase the public benefits that immigrants can receive. ⁷

Prisoner Justice Project

SRLP’s Prisoner Justice Project is focused on assisting trans people who are incarcerated in New York City jails or federal prisons in New York state. This assistance includes things such as legal name changes, obtaining hormone therapy, and requests for alternative prison housing. The project also runs the Prisoner Advisory Committee, which is comprised of currently incarcerated TGNCI people that advises the project and informs its work. ⁸ The project has provided official comments to the New York City Board of Corrections on various issues such as visitation rights, solitary confinement, and the danger of prison violence and sexual assault against TGNCI individuals. ^{9 10}

Litigation

Rodriguez v. Johnson et al.

In 2006, in conjunction with Lambda Legal, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project settled in the case of Rodriguez v. Johnson et al. in which a transgendered woman, Alyssa Rodriguez, had been denied hormones and punished for her gender expression at New York juvenile facilities. With the settlement, Alyssa Rodriguez was awarded $25,000 and the Office of Children and Family Services agreed to work with SRLP over a period of five years to reform the way the office handles the cases of transgender individuals. ¹¹

Cruz v. Zucker

In 2016 SRLP was victorious in the case Cruz v. Zucker that resulted in a ruling that declared that trans-specific healthcare coverage is required by law for those New Yorkers eligible for Medicaid, regardless of their age. ¹²

Trainings

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project provides a variety of trainings. These include trainings for service providers on the basics of gender identity ideology, as well as trainings for government agencies on the process of legal name changes and ID card modifications. SRLP also provides know-your-rights trainings to trans people on subjects such as police interactions, healthcare, immigration, and incarceration. ¹³