Community Alert: Where in the World are Miss Major & Melenie Eleneke?

*TRANSWOMEN OF COLOR TESTIFY TO THE UNITED NATIONS ON RACISM IN THE U.S. *



Bay Area Transwomen of Color Activists Travel to the U.N. in Geneva to
hold the U.S. Accountable for Lack of Economic Opportunities for
Transgender Women of Color
/*

See Photos and Miss Major's & Melenie's Daily Reports from Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland February 20, 2008 – The proceedings of the U.N.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will occur
in Geneva, Switzerland on February 21 and 22, where the U.S. State
Department and the Department of Justice will defend the Bush
Administration's human rights record. The CERD committee will examine
U.S. compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (ICERD). As an international treaty ratified by
the U.S., the ICERD has the force of law in the United States.

Prominent U.S. transwomen of color activists Miss Major and Melenie
Eleneke are in Geneva for the CERD session to advocate for the economic
rights of transgender women of color in the U.S. Miss Major and Ms.
Eleneke are representing the San Francisco-based NGO the Transgender,
Gender Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP).

TGIJP and two other Bay Area human rights organizations, WILD For Human
Rights and Justice Now, recently released a report to the United Nations
documenting rampant human rights abuses against women of color in
California prisons, in the U.S. agricultural industry, and in the
communities where transgender, gender variant and intersex people live.
Documented abuses include the coerced sterilization and shackling of
people giving birth in women's prisons, the mortality rate of Latina
child laborers on US farms, and the pervasive employment discrimination
against transgender women of color.

You can watch these proceedings unfold and send in your comments!
Visit
"Demanding Our Rights," a human rights blog for more background, reporting from
Miss Major and Melenie, and video and photos of the U.N. proceedings!

Questions? Comments? Please contact TGIJP at 415-252-1444, or
mailto:info@tgijp.org.


--
Alexander L. Lee, Attorney at Law
Director
TGI Justice Project
1095 Market Street, Suite 308
San Francisco, CA 94103
Voice / 415.252.1444
Fax / 415.252.1554
Email / mailto:alex@tgijp.org
Web / www.tgijp.org