A Roadmap for Change: Federal Policy Recommendations for Addressing the Criminalization of LGBT People and People Living with HIV (2014)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and people living with HIV (PLWH) face pervasive discrimination at all stages of the criminal legal system, from policing, to adjudication, to incarceration, according to a new report that will be published on May 7, 2014 by the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School and co-authored by the Center for American Progress, The Center for HIV Law & Policy, and Streetwise & Safe (SAS). 

The report, A Roadmap for Change: Federal Policy Recommendations for Addressing the Criminalization of LGBT People and People with HIV, provides an extensive outline of policy measures that federal agencies can adopt to address discriminatory and abusive policing practices, improve conditions for LGBT prisoners and immigrants in detention, decriminalize HIV, and prevent LGBT youth and adults from coming in contact with the system in the first place. The report was developed in collaboration with over 50 advocates, lawyers, and policy organizations working on LGBT criminalization and racial justice issues at the local, state, and federal levels and includes essays from academic experts in the field, advocates, and formerly incarcerated LGBT people, including CeCe McDonald.

A briefing event for the report’s release will be held Wednesday, May 7, 2014, from noon – 1:30 pm at the Center for American Progress, Washington, DC. The event will be live streamed.