Our Story
We were founded to fill the urgent need for holistic, abolitionist criminal legal services for transgender and gender non-conforming people in Illinois and to address gaps in the mainstream LGBT civil rights movement.
WE RECOGNIZE the fundamental failures of the U.S. legal system which we believe inherently promotes classism, racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, ableism, and imperialism.
WE WORK to build a collective awareness of the injustices perpetrated by the state through the legal system and to support the empowerment of those most affected and targeted by the prison-industrial complex.
WE SEE zealous legal services not as a solution to institutionalized oppression but rather as an immediate response to the ways the legal system disempowers individuals, threatens community-based activism, and prevents radical education and transformative justice.
We support a long-term broad-based movement for prison abolition.
We do not see reform or direct services alone as a solution to systemic oppression.
TJLP TIMELINE
2008.
The Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois (TJLP) is founded in Chicago, Illinois by a collective of queer abolitionists seeking to provide services to transgender and nonconforming folks targeted by the current criminal system.
2009-2010.
TJLP officially begins doing legal support, including court support and criminal defense cases. The collective also begins a letter-writing program, responding to every single letter received from folks on the inside of the prison industrial complex.
TJLP shares space with the Write to Win Collective and collaborates with Black and Pink on multiple projects.
TJLP provides legal support for Dyke March.
2011.
After making countless trips to the Daley Center, TJLP saw the need for a more long-term program to assist trans and gender non-conforming folks in their name change process. This lead to the current Name Change Mobilization program that we have today.
TJLP hosts their first zine release party at the Jane Addams Hull-House where art made by folks on the inside was displayed in a gallery space and letter writing to the artists took place.
TJLP takes on Write to Win on as an internal project.
2018.
TJLP begins providing legal support for trans and gender non-conforming folks to change their gender marker on municipal IDs.
The Name Change Mobilization program hits 1,000 name changes!
2019.
TJLP files the Name Change Lawsuit against Cook County.
2020.
TJLP becomes a 501-C3 organization and hired their first full-time employees.
Since Our Founding We Have...
Changed over 1,000 names in 10 years
through volunteers and advocates in our Name Change Mobilization program.
Served over 300 people at roving legal clinics
providing greater access to brief services, legal advice, and referrals.
Represented clients in over 52 criminal cases
preventing pre-trial incarceration and long-term incarceration sentences for all our clients.
Facilitated hundreds of workshops and trainings
equipping organizations with CLE’s and the trans community with know-your-rights training.
Expunged the criminal records of over 53 clients
removing significant barriers our clients faced in obtaining employment and housing.
Hosted 2 Trans Days of Remembrance
to honor and commemorate the countless lives of our siblings that have been lost.
Advocated for over 30 clients at Cook County Jail
providing necessary services such as placement and medical access to those who are incarcerated.
Filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court
in a nationwide collaboration with over 40 organizations to determine whether employment discrimination against trans folks is unlawful under Title IX.