Queers For Justice
q4j@newburghlgbtqcenter.org
Mission
The Queers for Justice Committee is made up of queer and trans, Black + Brown folks, and white allies. Members of our group have directly experienced the harmful impacts of the carceral system in our lives and intersecting communities. The Committee addresses the disparities experienced by people of color through over-policing, the criminal justice system, and the incarceration of LGBTQ+ identified people. Currently, we act as advocates for incarcerated and systems-impacted LGBTQ+ identified community members; we connect community members to legal resources; and we provide moral support, political education and leadership development, and community connection to take action.
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Focus Areas
Community Abolitionist Education: Aims to cultivate an analysis of how the “justice system” operates and why prisons and police departments need to be defunded. As community members, we are learning about Prison Abolition, how and why to defund the police, and the entire carceral system. We read books and articles, watch movies, and hold discussions based on the content.
Community Action: We are cultivating an analysis that helps to inform us of why, how, and where we need to take action! We can’t just study intersectional liberation—we must also be active in helping to share what that work looks like!
Political Advocacy: This is a group of individuals that work on getting legislation passed and/or changing policies around issues that affect queer people of color. This includes but is not limited to defunding the police, repealing the walking while trans bill, stopping new prisons from being built, and any/all action that leads towards the larger goal of the abolishment of the carceral system.
Prisoner Advisory Team
Prisoner Agenda
Our Values
All Black Lives Matter.
No queer liberation without Black liberation.
Fight white supremacist structures and behaviors.
Follow Black, incarcerated, and formerly incarcerated leadership.
Work toward a world without prisons.
Anti-capitalist/imperialist
Think global, act locally.
History of Queers for Justice
Queers for Justice was founded as an expansion to one of The Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center’s five focus areas: Abolition & Safety. Starting In 2019 group community members got together to host community events like the Winter Sip and Write Community Conversations about Prison Abolition, and an abolitionist study group. In early 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic q4j members provided PPE to community members across the Mid-Hudson Valley. Queers for Justice would eventually turn to Leglestive Advocacy by helping with the passage of Walking While Trans, which passed in early 2020. Queers for Justice expanded their leglestive advocacy efforts with impleation of our Prisoner Advisory Team in late 2020. Today Queers for Justice is dedicated to ensuring the voices that are most impacted by systems of oppression are heard by the people who hold power.