NYC- Stop-and-Frisk Targets Transgender Community Unfairly, Study Says

[SandraJane]

Stop-and-Frisk Targets Transgender Community Unfairly, Study Says


http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121024/jackson-heights/stop-and-frisk-targets-transgender-community-unfairly-study-says


A transgender woman named Carmen, left, spoke on Tuesday at Make the Road New York in Jackson Heights.


QUEENS — Jackson Heights' transgender community has been targeted by police for stop-and-frisks at more than double the rate of the rest of the neighborhood's population, a new study says.

Compounding the issue in the area, which is heavily immigrant, is the fact that the controversial practice largely targets minorities.

"Transgender and gender nonconforming people of color are particularly vulnerable due to their visibility," the study said. "In order to combat police misconduct, there must be legislation and policies that minimize the risk of these kinds of abuse occurring in our communities."

[Shana A]

Report details abuse against gay community

Posted: Thursday, October 25, 2012 10:30 am
by Marni Usheroff, Chronicle Contributor

http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/report-details-abuse-against-gay-community/article_8b194642-acad-5ad6-91fa-b99ccb68ad6b.html

Cristina, a transgender Latina woman, said police arrested her when she left a Jackson Heights club with her boyfriend early one morning. They assumed she was a prostitute.

"They took my bag and emptied it on the floor," Cristina said through a translator before a packed room in Make the Road New York's Jackson Heights office on Tuesday. "Because they found condoms, they used that as evidence of prostitution."

Cristina was one of numerous victims of discriminatory and abusive policing practices against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to a report released on Tuesday by Make the Road New York.

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Make the Road NY Report says Jacson Heights Black, Hispanic LGBTs more fearful than straights in stop & frisks
Of LGBT respondents surveyed in the Make the Road NY report, 51% reported that they had been harassed when stopped by police. Only a third of straight respondents said the same.
By Clare Trapasso / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, October 25, 2012, 9:43 PM
   
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/report-cops-harass-non-white-lgbts-article-1.1192631

Black and Hispanic gays and lesbians in Jackson Heights are more likely to be harassed by cops than their straight peers — especially during stop and frisks, a new report claims.

The Make the Road New York report, released Tuesday, also alleges that transgender women are particularly vulnerable to being arrested and charged with prostitution — often without cause.

"When (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people are stopped and frisked, it's a very different experience from when heterosexual people are stopped," said Karina Claudio-Betancourt, who runs Make the Road's LGBTQ Justice Project. "They are usually verbally (and) physically harassed."