TGI Justice Project

{{Short description|American transgender organization}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Primary sources|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox organization | name = TGI Justice Project | image = Janetta Johnson 20251206-6895.jpg | image_size = 220px | image_alt = Janetta Johnson speaking at Glide Memorial Church wearing a dress with the TGIJP logo | caption = Executive director Janetta Johnson speaking at a memorial for Miss Major Griffin-Gracy at Glide Memorial Church, December 2025. | founded = 2004 | region_served = California, United States | focus = Transgender rights<br />Prisoners' rights | method = Advocacy, community organizing, mutual aid | website = {{URL|http://www.tgijp.org/|tgijp.org}} }} The '''Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center''', also known as the '''Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project''' (TGI Justice Project or TGIJP), is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization working to end human rights abuses against transgender, intersex, and gender-variant people, particularly trans women of color in California prisons and detention centers.<ref name="tgijp-about">{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.tgijp.org/about.html |website=TGI Justice |access-date=June 4, 2019 |archive-date=June 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601010149/http://www.tgijp.org/about.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="out-21nov2018">{{cite magazine |last1=Dommu |first1=Rose |title=7 Organizations to Support That Aren't the Homophobic Salvation Army |url=https://www.out.com/news-opinion/2018/11/21/7-organizations-support-arent-homophobic-salvation-army |access-date=June 4, 2019 |magazine=Out |date=November 21, 2018}}</ref><ref name="lgbtqn-7oct2018">{{cite magazine |last1=Madison |first1=Alex |title=The nation's first trans cultural district is starting to turn ideas into reality |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/10/nations-first-trans-cultural-district-starting-turn-ideas-reality/ |access-date=June 4, 2019 |magazine=LGBTQ Nation |date=October 7, 2018}}</ref><ref name="tgijp-26feb2025">{{cite web |author1=Janetta Johnson |author1-link=Janetta Johnson |title=A Message from CEO, Janetta Johnson – February 2025 |url=https://tgijp.org/a-message-from-ceo-janetta-johnson-february-2025/ |website=Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center |access-date=December 8, 2025 |date=February 26, 2025}}</ref> Originally led by Black trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and Asian-American trans man and activist Alexander L. Lee (also the organization's founder),<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nguyen |first1=Stacy |title=Trans rights org founder Alex Lee on activism and importance of Black women leaders |url=https://nwasianweekly.com/2020/07/trans-rights-org-founder-alex-lee-on-activism-and-importance-of-black-women-leaders/ |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=Northwest Asian Weekly |date=2 July 2020}}</ref> the current executive director of TGIJP is Janetta Johnson, a Black trans woman who was formerly incarcerated in a men's prison.<ref name="tgijp-about" /><ref name="yes-8mar2017">{{cite magazine |last1=Chitnis |first1=Rucha |title=Why Defending Human Rights Is Women's Work |url=https://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/why-defending-human-rights-is-womens-work-20170308 |access-date=June 4, 2019 |magazine=Yes! |date=March 8, 2017}}</ref><ref name="guardian-6nov2016">{{cite news |last1=Puglise |first1=Nicole |title=LGBT prisoners' art exhibit offers voice to the incarcerated – and 'call to action' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/06/lgbt-prisoners-art-exhibit-new-york-on-the-inside |access-date=June 4, 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=November 6, 2016}}</ref>

=== Overview === TGIJP operates several outreach initiatives aimed at reducing isolation and monitoring conditions for transgender individuals housed inside state correctional facilities. Established in 2004, the organization's outreach infrastructure relies on direct communication links between community members inside and outside of the prison system.<ref name="TGIJPHistory">{{cite web |title=About TGIJP |website=Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center |url=https://tgijp.org/ |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref>

== Newsletter == The organization publishes ''Stiletto'', a magazine written for and by incarcerated transgender women, gender-nonconforming individuals, and intersex people. Melenie Eleneke served as the publication's editor beginning in 2008, managing content designed to share legal updates, narrative stories, poetry, and resource referrals across state and national institutions.<ref name="TGIJPLegacy">{{cite web |url=http://www.tgijp.org/in-memory-of-min-bobbiejean-baker-and-melenie-eleneke.html |title=Longtime TGIJP Leader & Stiletto Editor Leaves a Legacy of Love |website=Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141126070815/http://www.tgijp.org/in-memory-of-min-bobbiejean-baker-and-melenie-eleneke.html |archive-date=2014-11-26 |url-status=dead |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref><ref name="WordsAcrossWalls">{{cite web |title=Words Across Walls: Discussing Modes of Communication with TGIJP and Calls From Home |website=Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project |url=https://tgijp.org/media/words-across-walls-discussing-modes-of-communication-with-tgijp-and-calls-from-home/ |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref> The text functions as a tool for political education and legal strategy, gathering feedback from members regarding how policy changes, such as name and gender marker legislation, manifest within individual facilities.<ref name="WordsAcrossWalls" />

== Outreach == TGIJP coordinates regular volunteer mail correspondence initiatives to answer letters submitted by incarcerated individuals, using feedback from readers to inform its structural legal and policy agendas.<ref name="WordsAcrossWalls" /> Alongside mail distribution, the organization runs a dedicated visitation program to monitor the safety and living conditions of incarcerated trans people.<ref name="VisitationTeam">{{cite web |title=Visitation Team |website=Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center |url=https://tgijp.org/doin-the-work/direct-services/visitation-team/ |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref> Early tracking and visitation efforts included routine travel to state institutions, including the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, to conduct welfare checks and coordinate localized support networks.<ref name="BladeObit">{{cite news |last=DiGuglielmo |first=Joey |date=2013-09-25 |title=Trans activist Melenie Eleneke dies at 52 |newspaper=Washington Blade |url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/page/3126/ |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref>

For individuals returning from facilities, the organization historically hosted reintegration circles and spiritual healing workshops.<ref name="BladeObit" /> These re-entry frameworks were formalized in 2015 through the establishment of the Melenie Eleneke Grassroots Re-Entry Program, which provides employment training and paid direct-service fellowships to formerly incarcerated community members.<ref name="TGIJPReentry">{{cite web |url=https://tgijp.org/home/melenie-eleneke-grassroots-re-entry-program-html/ |title=Melenie Eleneke Grassroots Re-Entry/Socio-Economic Program |website=Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref>

== International advocacy == Advocacy expanded to international policy platforms in February 2008, when Eleneke and co-founder Miss Major Griffin-Gracy delivered testimony before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva, Switzerland, addressing housing insecurity and economic discrimination impacting transgender women of color in the United States.<ref name="BladeObit" /><ref name="UntTranscript">{{cite web |title=MAJOR! transcript voice over, crowd chanting |work=Miss Major Griffin-Gracy Documentary Collection |publisher=University of North Texas Libraries |url=https://library.unt.edu/media/covers/Transcripts/major_english_transcript.pdf |access-date=2026-05-26}}</ref>

In 2016, TGIJP joined Black Lives Matter in withdrawing from the San Francisco Pride Parade, in protest of increased police presence at the event.<ref name="time-25jun2016">{{cite magazine |last1=Chan |first1=Rosalie |title=Black Lives Matter Withdraws From San Francisco Pride Parade in Response to Increased Policing |url=https://time.com/4382842/black-lives-matter-withdraws-from-san-francisco-pride-parade-in-response-to-increased-policing/ |access-date=June 4, 2019 |magazine=Time |date=June 25, 2016}}</ref><ref name="latimes-25jun2016">{{cite news |last1=Najarro |first1=Ileana |title=Black Lives Matter withdraws from S.F.'s Pride Parade due to increased police presence |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-black-lives-matter-sf-pride-20160624-snap-story.html |access-date=June 4, 2019 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 25, 2016}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{official|http://www.tgijp.org/}} * [https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-05/california-prisons-consider-gender-identity-housing-requests California prisons grapple with hundreds of transgender inmates requesting new housing] (''Los Angeles Times'', April 5, 2021) * [https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/23/us/trans-women-incarceration/index.html Trans women are still incarcerated with men and it’s putting their lives at risk] (CNN, June 23, 2021) * [https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-has-moved-few-transgender-women-out-of-16711437.php California has moved few transgender women out of men’s prisons, despite new law] (''San Francisco Chronicle'', December 20, 2021) * [https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/3483219-lgbtq-rights-groups-defend-california-policy-protecting-transgender-inmates/ LGBTQ+ rights groups defend California policy protecting transgender inmates] (''The Hill'', May 10, 2022)

Category:LGBTQ culture in San Francisco Category:Non-profit organizations based in San Francisco Category:Transgender organizations in the United States Category:Human rights organizations based in the United States Category:2004 establishments in California