This statement from SLC’s Trans Rights Director, Simone Chriss, provides critical updates about the recent class wide injunction in the Passport ban case, the Department of State’s compliance with the order, and step-by-step guidance on how all trans people can obtain passports reflecting the correct gender marker (and should do so urgently!)

The order is a direct effort to expand the prison-industrial complex by incarcerating people who have not committed crimes…

This statement from SLC’s Trans Rights Director, Simone Chriss, covers what to know about the devastating ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth and how it could impact our trans healthcare cases in Florida and its potential impact on other anti-trans laws.

As local governments grapple with enforcement of a new state law banning people from sleeping in public spaces, several advocacy groups have launched a campaign to urge Florida cities and counties to choose constructive solutions to homelessness over the criminalization of life-sustaining conduct.

On Monday, April 7, Southern Legal Counsel, the National Homelessness Law Center, the Southern Poverty Law center, and the Florida Justice Institute advocated for change by sending letters to public officials in 21 cities and counties.

We want to assure you that, regardless of the threats being made to the federal Department of Education by the current administration, it would take an act of Congress to undo the protections afforded to students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Section 504 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

When I began working at SLC nearly seven years ago, I knew this was the role toward which my career had been building.

As we wait on the court to issue its ruling on the state’s motion to dismiss, we are pushing ahead. Our litigation team, comprised of Nancy Wright, who is lead counsel, SLC attorneys Chelsea Dunn and Jodi Siegel, and our colleagues Jeff Hearne and Jocelyn Armand at Legal Services of Greater Miami, is engaged in the complex discovery process needed to pursue our claims.

Right now, for many people, the courage to exist and to live authentically, is an act of resistance. For others, remaining vigilant and informed is an act of resistance. Refusing to succumb to hopelessness, fear, apathy, overwhelm, and the information overload that is designed to numb us and foster apathy is resisting.

To everyone impacted by the cruel and irrational Executive Orders that the Trump administration has issued over the past ten days: we are devastated, infuriated, and more committed than ever to continuing the fight for the rights of transgender Floridians. To all of my clients and members of the community who are reaching out for answers, guidance, and support, please hear me: you are worthy, you are valuable, you are loved, and this world needs you. There is no community more resilient, more capable of handling adversity, or better prepared to support and embrace each other through these dark and uncharted waters.

Simone Chriss, Director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at Southern Legal Counsel: “The extensive factual record in this case speaks for itself, and we believe that this Court will see the State’s politically motivated endeavor for what it is: a cruel attempt to strip healthcare from marginalized people without justification.”

A MESSAGE TO FLORIDA'S TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY: YOU ARE NOT ALONE

A Statement from SLC's Transgender Rights Initiative Director

Nov. 7, 2024

 Yesterday was a heavy day for America. We know that so many of our clients are feeling afraid about what the results of this election mean for the rights of LGBTQ+, and particularly transgender, Floridians. The collective hurt that we are feeling is not about politics, it is about humanity. And while we cannot take those burdens from you, we can walk beside you and share the weight. 

Florida-based legal aid organizations today filed a federal lawsuit challenging a St. Johns County ordinance passed in May 2023 in an effort to stop panhandling.