Friends!
We are excited to announce a bunch of new DCTC campaigns we are working on as well as our need for a two new interns!
The DC Trans Coalition is a local grassroots organization dedicated to advocating for transgender, transsexual and gender diverse people within the District of Columbia. DCTC works with community advocates, other LGBT organizations, District agencies, and local politicians to enact and enforce policies responsive to the needs of the trans community. Our meetings are held in a radical, consensus-based format where all voices and experiences matter!
We currently meet at Casa Ruby, on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7:30pm to 9pm and are open to the public! Bus tokens and metro cards are always available. Spanish-English interpretation is available and ASL interpretation is also available with notice. If you have child care needs, let us know in advance and we will work to have folks available! Come join us!
Questions? Visit us at dctranscoalition.org Leave us a message at 202.681.DCTC (202.681.3282) or shoot us an email at dctranscoalition@gmail.com
Our New Campaigns Include:
1) Trans healthcare working group
This working group aims at ensuring all trans people have access to trans affirming and competent healthcare. We are currently working to ensure that DC Medicaid and Medicare cover transgender health care services as well as ensuring appropriate provider care.
Please email: Nico Quintana at nicoquintana1@gmail.com
2) Court Advocacy Working Group
No legal experience necessary! The Court Advocacy Working Group focuses on making the DC court system more accessible to, and respectful of, trans* individuals. No legal knowledge is required to participate in this group. Examples of the group’s work include changing court forms to make them more inclusive of trans individuals, advocating for nondiscrimination in the court system, training court staff, and streamlining the process for getting a name change.
Please email: Jeff Light at jeff.light@yahoo.com
3) Trans Needs Assessment Working Group
Interested in community-based research? Our Trans Needs Assessment Working group has spent the past 3 years developing and distributing DC’s first fully inclusive trans needs assessment survey, now the largest in US history for any city! We are now at the final stages of writing our report and could use any help we can get ranging from copy-editing, background research to designing a Zine about the project for final distribution to trans communities in DC! No research experience necessary!
Please email: Elijah Edelman at elijah.edelman@gmail.com
4) Trans Art Collective (open to TLGBQ folks)
Attention to all art fiends: Come be a part of a newly burgeoning TLGBQ art collective. This is an endeavor to create a safe space for trans/gender-non conforming individuals to explore various methods and mediums of expression. As art is expansive, we see this project as not limited to the world of visual arts, but embracing all forms of expression: performance, movement, music, etc. Ultimately this vision is being put in motion to have a community that encourages each other in their respective practices/interests, to offer support to an active group of open-minded and accepting individuals, and to bring awareness to the unknowing of the important issues that the transgender population deals with on the daily.As interest garners and solidifies, there are obvious possibilities of holding events, art shows fundraisers, group projects, workshops, etc. This will be as much as we make it out to be, and I personally feel that this has a TON of potential! Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Please email: Jady Dyer at jady.dyer@gmail.com
5) Trans Voices Heard! Trans Writing/Blogging Column
As an expansion on our current website, we will now be hosting a guest blog/writing page for local and not-so-local trans folks! Whether you are into keeping up on current events or have something you’d like to write about, this is for you! We welcome all submissions, any languages (¡español, en particular!), any topics (poems, your favorite recipe, theoretical musings, rants and jokes), and any time!
Please email us at dctranscoalition@gmail.com
Internship and Volunteer Opportunities!
We are always seeking folks who can volunteer their time and energy! To volunteer, simply show up at any of our bi-monthly meetings or send us an email at dctranscoalition@gmail.com and let us know what you’d like to get involved in!
In addition to volunteer opportunities within any of our campaigns, we are currently seeking folks for internship positions! This is a great way for folks to get additional experience or to practice knowledge you already have!
Specifically, we have TWO internship positions open:
1) Social Media Coordinator and
2) Needs Assessment Project Intern.
1) Social Media Coordinator
Responsibilities for our Social Media Coordinator might include coordinating our Social Media presence, such as providing support for our wordpress-based website and blog, facebook, twitter and so forth. Bilingual applicants are especially desired! This is an unpaid position, however we are willing to work with college/university advisors and administration to help you get appropriate course credit for your work. You will be able to work from home or on-site at Casa Ruby. The work load will be flexible (10-20 hours per week) so that you can maintain other employment.
2) Needs Assessment Project Intern
Our Needs Assessment Project Intern will get the opportunity to be a part of United States history by working on the largest city-based trans needs assessment project conducted to date! We are currently drafting our final report and will need support producing this report, as well as an associated Executive Summary. Folks do not need professional experience or training to be a good fit for this position! We invite applications from folks who are excited and interested in copy editing, maintaining conversations with organizations interested in the data as well as assisting in the release of the final report.
For our intern positions (NOT volunteers!) we do have a short and informal application process to get to know a bit about you. These positions are UNPAID but we are willing to work with folks who wish to gain credit/volunteer hours for a university course or institution requirements. We have rolling deadlines but will give preference to applications sent before March 15st 2014.
To apply for either position, or if you have questions about volunteering with us, please send an email to elijah.edelman@gmail.com detailing:
1) Any past work with trans-specific orgs or activist groups in the past
2) What skills and experiences you can share with DCTC
3) What you would like to gain from working with DCTC
4) How many months you can commit to working with DCTC
5) A short bio about you!
Please share this info with friends, community groups, providers, coffee shops and any Internet space you have access to!! Spread the word!!
Have questions, comments or ideas? Give us a call at 202.681.DCTC (202.681.3282) or shoot us an email at dctranscoalition@gmail.com
In solidarity,
The DCTC Working Collective
DC Trans Coalition 