Photos: Thousands rally in Brooklyn for Black transgender lives

June 15, 2020 Associated Press

People raised their hands during a Black Lives Matter rally at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza on Sunday. Photos: Kathy Willens/AP

Share this:

Thousands of marchers dressed in white flooded several blocks around the Brooklyn Museum on Sunday afternoon to support human rights for Black transgender people.

Organizers included the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, The Okra Project and Black Trans Femmes in the Arts. Scheduled speakers included transgender activist Raquel Willis, author Ceyenne Doroshow and the family of Layleen Polanco, a transgender woman who died after an epileptic seizure in solitary confinement last June at Rikers Island jail.

The march came days after the reported deaths of two Black transgender women, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells in Philadelphia and Riah Milton in Liberty Township, Ohio. Both are being investigated as homicides.

The rally and silent march coincide with Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country and comes in the middle of Pride Month.

The march also came only days after the Trump administration on Friday rolled back health care protections for transgender people by no longer recognizing gender identity as an avenue for sex discrimination.

Crowds of protesters also gathered at the nearby Grand Army Plaza and at the Barclays Center. Some streamed down Flatbush Avenue and massed for a rally in Fort Greene Park. Many held signs decrying police misconduct and brutality. There were no reports of arrests.