Trans United for Obama Launches Nationwide Volunteer Effort

Posted on 06/08/2012 by Cecilia

WASHINGTON, June 8 — Trans United for Obama, a national volunteer effort, has launched a campaign to rally transgender people, their allies, families, and supporters in the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama.
The campaign, organized by a group of transgender advocates, educators, bloggers, authors, and their families and allies, aims to educate people about the historic changes that the Obama Administration has accomplished in the past three and a half years to secure equal rights and protections for all Americans, including transgender people.
Among the victories achieved during President Obama’s first term is the removal of onerous and outdated requirements to change gender markers on legal documents such as passports, immigration documents, federal employee records, Veterans’ Administration records, and birth certificates for American citizens born outside of the US. In addition, discrimination based on gender identity is now banned in areas like federal employment and public housing programs, and President Obama signed the first federal law aimed at addressing the rampant violence that transgender people face.

Trans United for Obama (TU4O) will work closely with the president’s campaign and will hold regular national calls to coordinate and boost trans and allied people’s participation in the re-election campaign. One of its goals is to register new trans voters and support others who may be prevented or discouraged from voting by new and discriminatory voter ID laws in several states. Supporters can register at the website to volunteer, donate money to the campaign through the grassroots fundraising site, and express their support for the re-election of President Obama and for his ongoing efforts to secure equal rights for transgender Americans.

Trans United for Obama can be found at http://www.transunitedforobama.org/index.html.
To learn more about the Trans United for Obama campaign, follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TransUnited4Obama

One Letter, One Life

Posted on 12/21/2011 by Cecilia

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, I serve on the Board of Directors of Just Detention International, a health and human rights organization that works to end sexual abuse in detention. I’m writing today to tell you about JDI’s One Letter, One Life campaign, and to ask for your support.

We all get requests to support worthy organizations. I think JDI stands out from some other good causes not just because it is the only organization in the U.S. dedicated to ending prisoner rape, but because it is incredibly effective both at advocating for prison reform and at changing the lives of individual survivors of sexual abuse.

I believe that a simple act of compassion can have a huge impact on a person’s life. Take Dwight. For years, Dwight has been raped repeatedly by other inmates in a Texas prison. He reported the abuse and begged to be placed in protective housing, only to be mocked or ignored by staff. Earlier this year, he was transferred to another prison, more than 400 miles away from his family. Dwight is battling depression, fear, and loneliness — but he hasn’t lost hope. Instead, he is struggling to hold onto a vision of a brighter future. In a recent letter to JDI, he wrote:

“I can honestly say that, because of you, I haven’t killed myself or given up. You have been there for me in my darkest moments. I am looking forward to getting out and doing whatever I can to help JDI fight to end sexual abuse behind bars.”

JDI gets letters from people like Dwight every day. The staff respond to each one by sending a personal letter, self-help information, and a note of encouragement from another prisoner rape survivor. Letters from JDI are a lifeline for survivors who are scared, trapped with their abusers, and desperate for help.

My friend and fellow JDI board member, David Kaiser, has agreed to match every single donation to the One Letter, One Life campaign, contributing half the goal – $108,300! We’re aiming to raise $216,600 – that’s $1 for each one of the people who, like Dwight, is sexually abused every year while in the custody of our government. That means that you can double your impact by donating what you can, right now. To find out more about JDI, please visit the website at www.justdetention.org. You can go here to give directly to the One Letter, One Life campaign.

Please help us meet our goal! Your donation will help JDI reach out to survivors like Dwight with life-saving information and services, while working to make sure that no one else has to go through what Dwight did, ever again.

Thanks so much!

Warmly,
Cecilia

Sex Workers Manifesto

Posted on 09/17/2011 by Cecilia

At the High Income Countries Dialogue of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law today, the sex workers group submitted the following amazing manifesto:

In order to achieve a more effective and rights-based response to HIV in high-income countries, we call upon the Commission to adopt the following recommendations on which all sex work groups and projects in this dialogue have come to consensus: Continue reading →

Transgender People, HIV and the Law

Posted on 09/10/2011 by Cecilia

Here’s what I have submitted to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law.

Intersection of HIV, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement and Transgender People

To effectively reduce HIV transmission and connect PLWHA to care and, where appropriate, anti-retroviral treatment, we must prioritize the fight against HIV-related stigma, discrimination and criminalization. This is true with all populations of PLWHA, but especially so with transgender women.

Continue reading →

High Income Countries Dialogue

Posted on 09/10/2011 by Cecilia

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law is convening the High Income Countries Dialogue in Oakland, California on September 16-17. I had no plan to submit anything originally until a little over a week before the deadline. But with the diminishing services for the transgender community across the country, especially seeing how the transgender data continue to seem invisible in the HIV epidemic, despite of the advocacy that my colleagues have done for decades; I decided that to take some of our voices to this international forum. Perhaps someone will finally notice our own government’s inaction. Continue reading →

Finally!

Posted on 08/23/2011 by Cecilia

It has a been long time coming, but I am finally able to register for the domain name ceciliachung.com after trying for the past five years. So here it is. This is still a work in progress, but for now, it will be one of my many ways to connect to you and the world.

All the headers images are photos that I took. If you are one of my friends, you might recognize some of these places.

So why am I launching yet another site? The answer is simple. After two years of sabbatical, I am re-entering the world of consulting as well as public speaking. This site is to make myself more accessible.

Anyway, more coming soon.

Cecilia Chung

Public Speaker, Human Rights Advocate, Capacity Building Consultant