A number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy groups sounded off on allegations that people of color were being targeted by the New York Police Department's controversial "stop and frisk" policy, the Center For Constitutional Rights is reporting.
New York City Anti-Violence Project, the Audre Lorde Project, FIERCE, Make the Road NY and Streetwise & Safe were inside of the courtroom where the federal lawsuit Floyd vs. City of New York was being heard.
A member of FIERCE spoke personally about how transgender and queer people are affected by stop and frisk and are often profiled with the assumption of being a sex worker.
"The reality of our lives as queer and transfolk of color speaks truth to the fact that we are excluded from the 'us' we speak of and the NYPD has no interest in serving and protecting our communities," the member, who was not identified in the video, said. "It excludes us when trans bodies cannot walk down Christopher Street without being profiled for being sex-workers because they have a condom in their pocket; when a group of queer people of color standing on a corner is easily mistaken for being a gang; when black and brown bodies are viewed as violent just because of the color of our skin; when we see and hear about our people being killed due to state violence ... The NYPD has used their power to try and erase us, to keep us silent and to keep our stories from being talked about and heard."
CCR Education and Outreach Director Annette Dickerson also recently published a blog in regards to LGBT youth, poor people, Arab and South Asian people and Muslims being amongst those who are heavily affected by stop and frisk.
"And it is often at the intersection of communities that the oppression of stop and frisk is most felt. Last year the Center for Constitutional Rights documented the experiences of various New York communities at the hands of the police, including LGBT communities," she wrote.
In recent news, lawyers behind the suit may present one of the few known recordings of "Stop, Question and Frisk." A 15-year-old Latino boy secretly made the recording while being stopped and frisked in Harlem back in 2011. Activists are saying that the recording has potential to become a key piece of evidence in the widely debated suit.
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