TransGender Legal Clinics

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TransGender Michigan ACLU of Michigan LGBT Project

29097 Yorkshire Lane 60 W Hancock

Warren, MI 48088 Detroit, MI 48201

tgmichigan@ameritech.net www.aclumich.org

www.transgendermichigan.org





January 26, 2004

For Immediate Release





Contact: Rachel Crandall, TransGender Michigan ¨ (517) 347-3681

Kara Jennings, ACLU of Michigan ¨ (313) 578-6817





Free Legal Clinics Open to Transgender Individuals Across Michigan


TransGender Michigan and the ACLU of Michigan’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project are pleased to offer transgender law clinics to individuals with legal questions related to their gender identity.



Kara Jennings, staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan LGBT Project, whose position is funded by the Thomas H. Steel Fellowship Fund of the Horizons Foundation & Pride Law Fund, will provide information and referral services.



“Michigan’s transgender community has made great strides in the struggle to enforce their rights, but discrimination continues to exist,” said Jennings. “I’m pleased to help in redressing this challenge by working with such a dedicated group of people from TransGender Michigan. They have worked hard to coordinate these events and are clearly dedicated to improving communications between all of the various groups supporting the transgendered communities in Michigan.”



“We’re excited to be able to offer this program,” says Rachel Crandall, ACSW, Executive Director of TransGender Michigan. “The transgender community is often isolated and individuals are unable to access vital legal information.”



Carrie Tune-Copeland, Secretary of TransGender Michigan, added, “We are so grateful to the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBT Project and the Tom Steel Fellowship Fund for providing our community with this imperative service. They should definitely be commended on their devotion to transgender inclusion and advocacy, and we’re delighted to be working with them.”



The first transgender legal clinic will be held in Kalamazoo tomorrow, January 27, 2004 at 6:00 p.m., in conjunction with the Kalamazoo Transgender Peer Support Group at the Kalamazoo Gay & Lesbian Resource Center, 629 Pioneer Street, Kalamazoo, MI.



Additional clinics include:



§ Affirmations’ Transgender Support Group, 195 West Nine Mile Road, Ferndale on March 23, 2004, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.;

§ Michigan State University’s Transgender Support Group, MSU Union, U of M Room, East Lansing, April 18, 2004, from 5-7 p.m.;

§ Gender & Java Discussion Group, 328 North Grand Traverse Street, Flint on May 15, from 4-6 p.m.;

§ Traverse City (date and location TBA); and

§ Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project, 325 Braun Court, Ann Arbor (date TBA).



Further information regarding these events and future clinics can be found at www.transgendermichigan.org.



Plans are underway for additional clinics to be held in co-sponsorship with other organizations.



TransGender Michigan, a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to improving the lives of transgender individuals in Michigan. For additional information regarding TransGender Michigan, please contact Rachel Crandall, ACSW, Executive Director of TransGender Michigan at tenofnine@hotmail.com or 517-347-3681.



For information about the legal clinics, please contact Kara Jennings at the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBT Project, 313-578-6817 or kjennings@aclumich.org.