PHOTOS: “Lights, Camera (Collective) Action!”

Posted on April 2, 2013 by renee

We cannot THANK YOU enough for making it out to our fundraiser & 4th birthday party, “Lights, Camera (Collective) Action!“ last Thursday, March 28, at Room & Board in NW DC! We can’t believe we held a sold out event, not to mention had a room full of so many amazing activists & advocates. It’s also been officially declared that we have the best volunteers ever.

Here’s to another four years of working to end public sexual harassment & assault in the DC area!

We couldn’t have done it without all you and your support! WE HAD A BLAST – and the pictures prove it!

**Special thanks to Justin Reed & Liz Gorman for the pics!**

Honoring International Transgender Day of Remembrance (11/19)

Posted on November 26, 2012 by julia

On Tuesday, November 19th, Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) joined hundreds of community members at the International Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil, held at the Metropolitan Community Church of DC in NW. Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1998 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith — a transgender graphic designer, columnist, and activist — to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. Nearly 15 years later, the day has burgeoned from a web-based project into an international day of action.

On International Transgender Day of Remembrance, Mayor Vincent Gray and Lisa Mallory accept awards for promoting economic justice for transgender residents of the District.

The standing-room only crowd heard from friends and family of murdered transgender people on the many things they loved and missed about their loved ones. Speakers also called upon attendees to celebrate survivors and take action to foster safety and understanding for transgender folks.

Mayor Gray, who received an award for his administration’s focus on improving the lives of transgender people in the District, emphasized that his mantra of “One City” meant that all were welcome in DC. This fall, he presided over the debut of a PSA series on Metro trains and bus shelters that aims “to increase understanding of transgender and gender non-conforming people, reduce incidents of discrimination and increase reporting [of such incidents].” Lisa Mallory, Director of the DC Department of Employment Services, also received an award for starting Project Empowerment, a job training program for DC trans residents. Programs such as Project Empower are a vital part of ensuring economic justice for trans folks, over 27 percent of whom reported annual incomes below $20,000 in a national survey.

Transgender people experience violence at far higher rates than the general population. According to one study, about 50 percent of trans people report unwanted sexual activity, including sexual assault and rape. In a national survey, 97 percent of transgender respondents reported experiencing mistreatment, harassment, or discrimination at their place of work. According to Holly Kearl of Stop Street Harassment, trans individuals also face some of the most vicious forms of street harassment, including murder.

Just days after Transgender Day of Remembrance, The New York Times devoted lengthy coverage to the rise in antigay crimes in the District. According to NYT, through October of this year, DC police recorded 51 hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender residents, just short of the record 53 for all of 2011. In November 2011, DC police began posting monthly statistics on hate crimes after advocates raised concerns that police weren’t doing enough to protect the trans community. It is encouraging to see so many members of the DC city administration and of the community at large come together to grieve the people who were lost, and promise to do better in the future. The fight to end street harassment is also a fight to ensure that public spaces are safe for everyone, including those who do not conform to binary gender norms.

The DC Office of Human Rights’ “Transgender & Gender Identity Respect” campaign launched fall 2012

“Don’t touch us.”

Posted on October 16, 2012 by renee

Location: 9:30 Club, U Street Corridor
Time: Night (7:30pm-12am)

My partner experiences street harassment on regular basis no matter the time of the day this evening wasn’t any different. We attended a concert at the 9:30 Club with a group of friends and everything was great until a guy that was pretty intoxicated found his way in front of us. He tried talking to us but when he reached out and touched us both I told him to no longer touch either of us and he didn’t like it. Apparently, me telling someone not to touch my body isn’t my prerogative. Throughout the night he’d intentionally bump into and rub against my partner which was making her uncomfortable so I eventually swapped places with her. Once the guy realized that I was standing there he stopped. The final straw came when he left the show and was walking through the crowd as he walked by he reached his hand out to touch us and we both moved out of his reach. Then he leaped forward and grabbed my partner and tried to take off and one of the friends I’d been with saw him and reacted to it. I was glad the guy was gone but frustrated with the fact that he chose to harass us even after several clear “No, don’t touch us.” After leaving the show to walk my partner home there were obscene comments, whistles and what not from miscellaneous men this happens on a regular basis. The utter lack of respect for other people is jarring to me. The lack of respect for a woman and most certainly the street harrassment [sic] as a same-sex couple has become unbearable.

Submitted on 7/29/12 by Anonymous

Do you have a personal experience with gender-based public sexual harassment or assault?
Submit your story to help raise awareness about the pervasiveness and harmful effects of street harassment. All submissions are posted anonymously unless otherwise specified.

If you experience or have experienced sexual harassment on the DC Metro system:
Please consider reporting to Metro Transit Police: www.wmata.com/harassment; 202-962-2121.

CASS Benefit Show @ The Black Cat! Sunday, 8/26

Posted on August 27, 2012 by renee

Three awesome bands (!) from the NY/DC areas are holding a benefit show on 8/26 to help us launch RightRides DC, which will provide free, safe, and late night ride to women and LGBTQ individuals. The program has been a goal of ours for a long time now, and support is critical! Tickets are $10, and CASS staff will be there tabling with materials and free to answer any of your questions. We hope to see you there!

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Coup Sauvage & the Snips, Queer Pressure, Hand Grenade Job

• Bringing RightRides for Women’s Safety to DC! •

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26
Backstage @ the Black Cat
Doors 8pm // $10 // all ages
1811 14th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
RSVP on Facebook
Get your tickets!

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ABOUT RIGHT RIDES DC
CASS has been working hard to bring RightRides, which started in 2004 in New York City, to DC. Our RightRides DC program will provide free, safe, and late-night transportation for women and LGBTQ individuals. These are populations that CASS recognizes often lack extra funds for taxis and for whom walking home or taking public transportation alone late at night is particularly dangerous. RightRides DC will organize volunteer drivers and navigators to operate a fleet of cars donated by a car-sharing program.

ABOUT CASS
Since 2009, CASS has fought street harassment in America’s capital by conducting training, lobbying for policy, and empowering Washingtonians to speak out against gender-based public sexual harassment and assault. CASS is 100% volunteer-led and operated.

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COUP SAUVAGE & THE SNIPS (DC)

The legendary Haus of Sauvage includes members of She.Rex, the First Ladies DJ Collective, Troll Tax, Hott Beat, Mess up the Mess, and Downbeat:Beatdown. You WILL move.

QUEER PRESSURE (DC/NY)

MC Liz M.C., MC ABsolutely FABulous, and DJ Does It Herself serving you solid gold flow and revolutionary beats.

HAND GRENADE JOB (DC)

Minimal devotionals.

See you August 26th!

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UPDATE

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A HUGE THANKS to everyone who made it out to Black Cat last night! We were thrilled to see the turnout. What’s more, the bands were GREAT. All three dazzled us with a mix of fun, thoughtful & empowering lyrics. We’re thrilled to announce that we made over $400 to go toward RightRides DC.

That’s over $400 to help give DC residents safe rides home!

Coup Sauvage, Hand Grenade Job, Queer Pressure: We couldn’t have done it without you. Special thanks to our board member (and Hand Grenade Job member!), Erin McCarley, for organizing the awesome event.

Now for the photos!

Hand Grenade Job

Hand Grenade Job

Queer Pressure – If you sexually harass folks on the street, you’re “REPULSIVE!”

Queer Pressure – fighting back against street harassment!

Queer Pressure – mid-costume change

Queer Pressure – post-costume change

Coup Sauvage. Photo credit: Alex Deebee

Want more?
Check out video footage of Hand Grenade Job’s complete set.

Let us know if you also have pics to share!
Email us!

Community rally against hate crimes in Eckington TOMORROW (August 9th)

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Zosia

Two Eckington residents were attacked walking from a car to their home the night of July 21st, leaving one of them with a fractured jaw and in need of major surgery. Why were the lives of this couple so brutally interrupted in what should have been an uneventful two-block walk to their front door? They may have been targeted, says MPD, because they are gay.

This reprehensible act of violence and homophobia has since turned into a story of the success of collective action and community support. Community members chipped in more than enough money to pay the hospital bills of one of the victims, and now, their neighbors are organizing a march and rally to take place tomorrow, August 9, at 7:00pm at Big Bear Cafe, located at R and 1st NW. Titled “WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Rally and Safety Walk” (all caps righteously the organizers’), the event will include a march to the site of the incident, where the participants will engage in a “momentum of noise.”

Please join us there and help us show that we can — and will — be heard. CASS supports the WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED march as well as all community-based responses to hate crimes and gender-based violence. All acts of gender- and sexuality-based violence are attacks against the community at large, and no one needs to stand by while their neighbors become survivors.

In case you’re thinking this might just be one sad but rare incident, we want to stress that this is not an isolated occurrence. According to police statistics, incidences of crimes linked to victims’ sexual orientation have increased this year. Twenty-two such hate crimes have been reported so far, compared to 15 at this time in 2011. This does not include the crimes that go unreported or that are allegedly gender- or sexuality-based but are not classified as such. After a rash of violence against the transgender community last summer, NPR reported that the crimes, which included hate-based vandalism, had “raise[d] alarm” in the city. Earlier this year, almost 1,000 DC residents marched against hate after three violent attacks occurred within the space of a week.

It’s time to make headlines again! We hope to see you tomorrow. Look for the folks in the Collective Action for Safe Spaces t-shirts if you want to chat or march with us!