GetYrRights: New Site for LGBTQ Youth Organizing Against Policing and Criminalization

Get Yr Rights: A National Know Your Rights Network for LGBTQ Youth (GYR) went live earlier today, providing a platform for LGBTQ youth in the struggle to end policing and criminalization to share Know Your Rights (KYR) information, materials and strategies across the world.

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Get Yr Rights was born out of conversations at the Allied Media Conference in 2012 between groups like Streetwise and Safe in New York, and BreakOUT!, a New Orleans group that’s been making headlines with their new kick-ass report “We Deserve Better: A Report on Policing in New Orleans By and For Queer and Trans Youth of Color.”

According to the GYR Facebook page,

“[The site is] chock full of ‘know your rights’ information specifically tailored to the experiences of LGBTQ youth and rooted in their realities and expertise. The site will be a source for news from all Network members on the front lines of the struggle to end the criminalization of LGBTQ youth!”

GYR kicks off with over thirty LGBTQ Youth or youth-serving member organizations, and the site features a map of its members, resources and policies, so you can find information or resources near your community, or submit your own additions. A GYR curriculum and toolkit are coming soon.

Before the site launch, GYR organized on Facebook and Twitter. They led campaigns and conversations focusing on policing and criminalization in relation to Ferguson and National Coming Out Day. They’ve also promoted events and campaigns run by Network members, like a conversation on NCOD held by the Native Youth Sexual Health Network on how Two Spirit and Indigenous LGBTTQQIA youth “are ‘coming out’ in the face of policing and criminalization.” Having a national network helps expand the reach and influence of organizations that are doing vital work, and helps organizations collaborate and learn from each other.

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Maddie

Autostraddle staff writer. Copy editor. Fledgling English muffin maker. Temporary turtle parent. Zine creator. Swings enthusiast. Political human who cares a lot about healthcare and queer anti-carceral feminisms. I asked my friend to help me write this bio and they said, "Good-natured. Friend. Earth tones." Another friend said, "Flannel babe. Vacuum lover. Kind." So. Find me on Twitter or my website.

Maddie has written 100 articles for us.

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