The new organization is planning a rally in D.C. on March 31.
“How are 10 trans children responsible for the price of your eggs going up? They’re not!”
The MC of Christopher Street Project’s spring reception proclaimed to dozens of supporters at Industry Bar in Hell’s Kitchen. Christopher Street Project, named after the street where the 1969 Stonewall Riots began, launched earlier this year as a hub for political leaders, activists and private citizens to build trans political power at a moment when MAGA’s anti-trans agenda is ascendent at the highest levels of the federal government.
Thus far, the organization has raised over $150,000 since its January launch and has organized over 100 meetings on Capitol Hill to discuss trans legislation. The group’s emergence is a response in the first 60 days of Donald Trump’s second term, in which he and his backers have already managed to deny health care to trans children and bar trans women from women’s sports. They are currently attempting to dismiss trans soldiers from the military.
Christopher Street hopes to build a coalition between left and center figures while eroding the political power of the right by putting pressure on Democratic candidates and voters.
The spring reception served as a community-building space where supporters learned more about the organization and its highly anticipated rally in Washington, D.C., on March 31 for Transgender Day of Visibility. Executive Director Tyler Hack and Director of Operations Liana Friedman explained that their aims for the reception as well as the Washington, D.C., rally were to show that trans rights are not only a moral obligation but a politically viable strategy to win elections. Hack pointed to New Yorkers overwhelmingly passing Prop 1 (the New York Equal Rights Amendment), even in counties where Donald Trump won, as a hopeful sign voters can “see through” anti-trans dog whistles on the right. However, while the organization and its allies remain hopeful, Friedman acknowledged that the organization is also figuring out how to organize under an especially “hostile political climate that didn’t exist even a year ago.”
Friedman explained how Christopher Street Project is approaching different categories of politicians: by supporting those who have been champions of trans rights like House Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), providing educational materials to middle-of-the-road political figures, and opposing leaders who are explicitly anti-trans. The organization mainly aligns with Democrats, but is also wary of political figures who view trans rights as disposable in their quest for political power.
When asked about New York City’s mayoral election, Hack explained that while the organization is not endorsing any candidate, they wanted voters to look at candidate’s records on trans issues before ranking them, especially frontrunner Andrew Cuomo: “[Cuomo] stalled the repeal of ‘Walking While Trans Bill’ and stalled the ‘Trans Panic Defense Bill’ for years,” Hack said. “His campaign treasurer has worked on efforts to ban little trans girls from playing sports. That doesn’t seem very pro-trans to me.”
Christopher Street hopes to build a coalition between left and center figures while eroding the political power of the right by putting pressure on Democratic candidates and voters. So far, the organization has had 18 members of Congress sign onto its March 31 rally, along with 10 co-sponsoring groups.
Hack explained that part of the way Christopher Street Project has been able to find support over such a short period is through showing that the transgender community does not exist in isolation: “There’s an intersection between trans issues and every other issue. Are you trying to support veterans? Support trans people. Do you support people having access to health care? That’s a trans issue. Do you support people having access to education? That’s a trans issue.” Other attendees felt similarly and believed that fighting for trans issues was central to fighting Donald Trump. One cisgender gay man explained: “it starts with them; it ends with us.”
