“Dreaming a future where we are all truly free.”
Lavender Rights Project’s movement building is a culmination of work started in 2019 by our leadership council to protect Black trans women and femmes. Last year was the deadliest year on record for the trans community, and an overwhelming majority of the victims were Black. This year alone, there has been a significant increase in violence against the trans community as a whole, with a majority of states attempting to legislate our existence away. Access to justice and safety is a basic human right, and yet each year we see more violence, more criminalization, and more discrimination coming for the Black Trans community—and especially Black trans femmes.
While it’s tempting to pursue reactive and temporary solutions, we must address the root causes of violence to make our communities safe.
Housing Manager, Bri’a Love, giving a speech in Seattle, Washington
LRP believes that it is not enough to grieve the loss of victims of violence; we must honor the loss of our brothers, sisters, and siblings with direct action.
Lavender Rights Project is disrupting transmisogynoir on the city, county, and state level, and collaborates with the most impacted community members to affirm our experiences through advocacy, art and support. We fully engage with the community members that we serve, including Black & Indigenous trans youth. LRP is also strategically collaborating with leaders and accomplices alike to bring an end to both anti-Blackness and transmisogyny in King County and throughout the South Sound. By investing in a safe community, Lavender Rights Project is fighting for the liberation of the most vulnerable in our community—and consequently, us all.
Our Current Goals
End violence against incarcerated Black trans femmes and change policies in King County Jail to protect and provide dignity to all gender diverse people of color housed there.
Amplify regional and statewide advocacy efforts to protect Black trans women and femmes, and bring back power to the Black gender diverse community throughout King County and across the nation.
Reflect with an intersectional lens while uplifting and protecting the most impacted by violence.
Create a sanctuary that protects, serves, and develops the culture of Black trans women and femmes in Seattle, Washington.
Our Tactics
Members of our GBVP Advocacy Team at “Reimagining Black Trans Liberation” in Summer 2023
We work in collaboration with community partners to push advocacy conversations into the mainstream and to reach positions of power.
We intentionally create specific values that center both intersectional feminism and abolitional praxis
We share accessible educational programs with the public, housing authorities, and diversify power holders in King County and WA State
We provide platforms for co-learning, co-building, and highlighting historically shadowed voices.
We stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities.
News from our Movement Building Work
