'March For Trans Justice' To Be Held In Westfield Saturday

WESTFIELD, NJ — Spearheaded by a group of Westfield teens, the Campaign for Gender Inclusivity will host a "March for Trans Justice" in Mindowaskin Park on Saturday.

Supporters and campaign members plan to march in solidarity with transgender and non-binary individuals across the United States.

This is largely in response to record numbers of anti-transgender legislation that has been introduced across the country, many of which target trans girls in sports, access to gender affirming healthcare/therapies and letting students use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, among other things.

In 2022 alone, 26 bills like these were signed into law in 12 states. According to the founder and president of the Campaign for Gender Inclusivity, Sophia Gandhi, these bills "directly affect the everyday lives and mental health of transgender individuals all over the world."

Legislators in New Jersey have also introduced four bills which could discriminate against transgender individuals.

For instance, NJ Senate bill 2648 would prohibit school districts from incorporating instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for students in grades kindergarten through six. The bill would also require consent from parents or guardians of students in grades seven through 12 for instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Gandhi said they founded the the Campaign for Gender Inclusivity over a year ago, in Feb. of 2021, with the mission of educating the teachers and students at their own school, Kent Place in Summit, about transgender and non-binary individuals. Gandhi, who is now 15 years old, started the campaign when she was in eighth grade.

Their goal is to help create a more accepting school environment for transgender and non-binary students.

At the time Gandhi launched the campaign, they said a lot of their friends were coming out as transgender. Gandhi was also exploring their own identity at the time and had discovered that they were non-binary.

"I wanted to make sure not only for myself, but also for my friends and for other people, that they weren't being disrespected in classes, or that teachers understood who they were and could accept that," Gandhi said. "Because a lot of the time, if a student's identity isn't respected in class, it can really affect their ability to focus or pay attention in class when they're constantly being misgendered."

Members of the campaign have conducted presentations with school faculty, educating them about pronouns, how to use them and how to set boundaries with students, Gandhi said.

They said the campaign also launched an online workshop for students where members speak about ways students can talk to their administrations and encourage them to implement more education around transgender and non-binary individuals.

Gandhi said the goal of the march on Saturday is to raise more awareness about the anti-transgender legislation that has been introduced and "how harmful it can be for transgender kids who are already vulnerable."

"They're just children," Gandhi said. "They're not even grown adults. They don't know how to deal with these kinds of attacks from government officials and legislators."

Gandhi explained that the march will begin at Mindowaskin Park, continue on Euclid Avenue, turn onto East Broad Street and finish down Mountain Ave. The march will end back at the park where it started.

There will also be a number of speakers sharing their personal experiences with anti-transgender legislation and oppression.

The speakers include:

• Rey Watson (they/them), a queer and trans activist who works with Generation Ratify and Sunrise Hunterdon County
• Miles Gorman, a youth climate and LGBTQ+ activist better known as "The Strike Bike"
• Fern, a passionate member of The Campaign for Gender Inclusivity
• Jamie, the mother of Damien Lopez and founder of Damien's Voice, an Instagram account where she shares Damien's story and raises awareness about suicide rates among transgender teens

The march will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday. You can contact @_.c4gi_ on Instagram or email campaign4genderinclusivity@gmail.com with questions.

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