Clip of the Week: The Criminalization of LGBTQ People

Pride Month is in full swing as NYC abounds in rainbow flags and anticipation for the upcoming Pride March. New York has been a center of revolution for gay rights; the story of the Stonewall Riot in 1969 led by LGBTQ people of color, including Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and many more, is recognized as a turning point for a community ostracized, legally discriminated against, and frequently harmed and killed with impunity. While significant progress has been made for LGBTQ rights, laws continue to be lax as there are still nebulous protections against employment, housing and healthcare discrimination, leaving a significant population homeless and without economic security. Because of this vulnerability, and the sheer audacity of daring to exist as they are publicly, many LGBTQs find themselves within the criminal justice system for nonviolent quality-of-life crimes. Many have no support systems to advocate on their behalf, and because America's criminal justice system is set up as social control to isolate societal outliers from the mainstream, the LGBTQ community, especially those of color, are overrepresented in prisons.

In this Manhattan Neighborhood Network special, host Evie Litwok sits down with Zahara Green of Transcending Barriers Atlanta, prison exonoree Elizabeth Ramirez, and Ken Pinkela of Sero Project to talk about their own experiences as being LGBTQ within the criminal justice system, jailed for being open about their identities, facing long stints in solitary confinement, and being stigmatized for living with HIV. Watch the whole episode now.