The Queer Justice Project aids LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations in their efforts to provide assistance to LGBTQIA+ people who are incarcerated, living with HIV/AIDS, experiencing housing discrimination, and/or experiencing discrimination in other ways. By engaging in this SLP, students will have the opportunity for hands-on learning alongside professionals working toward LGBTQIA+ equality, safety, and liberation.
The Queer Justice Project works with several organizations, and these organizations may vary from year-to-year. This year, QJP has partnered with Lambda Legal and the Transgender Law Center (TLC).
QJP is working with Lambda Legal to research emerging trends in transgender rights impact litigation. Raw data will be compiled and developed into resources for use in future cases.
TLC is the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. TLC’s “Legal Services Project” (LSP) responds to TLC’s Legal Information Helpdesk inquiries, which request information on a broad set of issues affecting trans and gender nonconforming people. QJP students are trained by LSP directors to respond to these inquiries and draft responses that are then reviewed by supervising attorneys.
The Transgender, Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) is an organization fighting against human rights abuses against incarcerated, queer people of color. This semester, research projects for the TGIJP team will include shepardizing and summarizing case law from different circuits regarding medical necessity for gender-affirming care & safety issues for incarcerated transgender, gender-variant, and intersex people. This project team will also be creating accessible and useful resources for jailhouse attorneys and incarcerated individuals filing legal claims for the first time.
Supervision: Students will receive training and be supervised by attorneys at Lambda Legal, the Transgender Law Center, and The Transgender, Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGI Justice).
Time Commitment: Members working with TLC- 3-5 hours/week. Members in QJP- 2 hours/week. There will be 1-2 workshop-wide meetings throughout the semester, the day and time for which will depend on students’ schedules. Each project will have its own weekly or bi-weekly meetings, depending on the project. The day and time for the project meetings will depend on those students’ schedules.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at QueerJustice@berkeley.edu.