NEW YORK - It was just about two weeks ago that LGBT and human rights advocates paused for a Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors members of the community who lost their lives to violence.

Some are now turning their attention to the effort to repeal a law they say puts the lives of trans women of color at risk.


What You Need To Know

  • LGBTQ advocates testified at a hearing held by the City Council Committee on Women and Gender Equity on two resolutions to repeal the state law

  • Critics say trans women of color are often targeted for arrest under the law they call the "walking while trans ban"

  • They're hoping to drum up support for a bill to repeal the law

Speaking of the prostitution charge she says is on her record, T.S. Candii of Black Trans Nations says "it has been the biggest hiccup in my life. It has prevented me from jobs. It has prevented me from housing."

She offered her testimony during a virtual city council committee hearing on two resolutions related to repealing the state law that activists refer to as the “Walking While Trans Ban." It's a section of law that makes loitering for the purposes of prostitution a crime, but critics say it's been used to arrest trans people for simply being in public spaces.

"This law is a direct descendant of the Jim Crow vagrancy laws where people were simply punished for being on the street" said Jerd Trujillo of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys.

Assembly member Amy Paulin is co-sponsoring a bill to repeal the law and spoke at a virtual rally ahead of the hearing.

"There's been a 125 percent increase in arrests under this statute in 2018," said Paulin.

Those are numbers advocates say they're determined to change as they work to galvanize more support for the repeal bill.