Image: TRUTH Nine Point Platform written in list form, points 1-9. Poster is in red/tan and includes drawings of various movement organizers including some members of the National Trans Youth Council. Original art by Rommy Torrico, 2018.
The National Trans Youth Council: Nine Point Platform was written and published by members of the TRUTH Council on November 16, 2018. The group wanted to draft a mandate for action that brought in intersecting issues of justice. The platform is a living document and guides our Trans Youth (TRUTH) Program.
National Trans Youth Council:
We, the National TRUTH Council of 2017-18, draft this document in the radical tradition of creating manifests in order to define our revolution and achieve liberation. The manifesto was inspired by and builds upon the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program, the Young Lord’s 12 Point Program and Platform, and the Third World Gay Revolution. The manifesto is not a static document, but a living one, so that it may be updated and changed to reflect the council’s increasing understanding of the systems of oppression and the changes in the language we use to describe both ourselves and these systems.
We are in a moment which calls for us to bravely and ferociously fight for our communal liberation. In this moment, in the name of our transgender and gender nonconforming ancestors who struggled before us, in our blood, bones, and our spirits, we claim our right to existence and our future victory with these frameworks to guide our own work and the work of future generations on our collective, continuous journey towards liberation.
- We Call for the Right to Self-Determination and Control of Our Destinies
We as trans youth have the right to control our narratives, spaces, and all aspects of our lives. Resources to achieve this trans empowerment must be made more readily accessible and available.
- We Call for the Abolition of the Police, ICE, Borders and the Judicial System
We demand abolition! Abolition of the police, abolition of borders and ICE, abolition of the current punishment-based justice system. We demand for our communities to be empowered to take care of themselves, for no borders, for rehabilitation and healing justice. Abolition is a process that we are committed to fight for.
- We Call for an End to Disposability Politics and a Commitment to Transformative Justice
We believe in establishing a culture of accountability that is transformative in nature and creates opportunity for growth. We must take responsibility and hold space for the collective wellbeing and unity of our people.
- We Call for an End of the Cisgender Heterosexual Patriarchy
We recognize that the current state of the world centralizes the stories of white cisgender heterosexual men. We call for the end of a social structure that separates or determines the value of people on gender expectations from historical Europe. We demand that queer and/or TGNC people no longer be oppressed by these frameworks, institutions, and their enablers.
- We call for Decolonization and Reparations for all Indigenous and Black Peoples
We call for the payment of reparations that are owed and the reclamation of cultural practices by the communities from which they originated. We call for the active and complacent perpetrators of cultural appropriation and colonization to be held accountable and to recognize the privilege they maintain through the oppression of others.
- We Call for Comprehensive Education that Reflects our Histories and Needs
We call for the use of informed educational practices that provide access to curriculum to help build opportunities for historically erased peoples. We call for free and non-compulsory education for all ages and for all access levels.
- We Call for an End to Global White Supremacy
We call for the end of this racist system that profits off of the devaluing of Black people, Indigenous people and all other people of color. We believe in exposing the history of global white supremacy and it’s discriminatory practices.
- We Call for Land Justice and Environmental Justice We call for the recognition and Indigenous reclamation of stolen lands. We call for conscious creation through choosing to stay local and sustainable, remembering that our actions last for generations.
- We Invite our Comrades, Accomplices and Allies to Join Us
We invite our comrades in struggle who align with our principles, including those who have yet to self-determine their relationship to the struggle, to join us in solidarity, coalition, and liberation — remembering the revolution is a relationship.
TRUTH Nine Point Platform Video
In this video, members of the National Trans Youth Council and authors of the Nine Point Platform read the platform’s nine points. Video footage of the council’s cohort year plays in the background.
Abolition – The act or process of officially ending something.
Abolition refers to the movement of activist who seek to eliminate the punishment-based systems and replace punishment with healing and rehabilitation, or restorative/transformative justice practices.
Ex. Prison abolition activist seek to eliminate the prison system and replace it with healing those affected in the community without throwing anyone away.
What is the PIC? What is Abolition?
Accessible – Capable of being reached. In activist terms, something is typically defined as accessible when it can be used by various marginalized individuals, primarily people with disabilities.
Ex: The video was not accessible because it did not have captions.
To make the event more accessible, the organization provides free childcare for attendees with children.
The language used in the article was not accessible as it contained vocabulary heavily based off of academia
Accountability – An obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.
Ex. Peter held himself accountable for his hurtful words by educating himself and eliminating those words from his vocabulary
Binary – Composed of two things. In terms of the gender binary, the gender binary refers to the way people are categorized as either a boy or a girl at birth.
Can also refer to the way a person identifies; either within or outside of the gender binary.
Ex. Marco identifies as a binary trans man.
Cisgender – A person who identifies with the gender or sex assigned to them at birth.
Ex. Shayla is a cisgender bisexual woman
Comprehensive Education – Education that provides accurate information and depictions of subjects/topics that have not be altered due to bias.
Ex. Not all schools provide comprehensive sexual education as they may leave out certain information and misrepresent a topic.
Cultural Appropriation – Stealing or adopting a part of another person’s culture, traditions, and/or elements as an accessory.
Ex. Wearing headdresses at Coachella is cultural appropriation
Decolonization – To free from colonial status. The act of undoing colonialism, or reclaiming something that was taken.
Disposability Politics – The belief that people are not redeemable or that a person being thrown away will benefit humanity overall.
Ex. Prisons perpetuate disposability politics by locking away people
Heterosexual – A person who is attracted to members of opposite binary gender if they identify with a binary gender.
Ex. Kimberley identifies as a heteroseuxal trans woman of color.
ICE – Acronym: Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Judicial System – Courts that interpret and apply laws.
Patriarchy– A system that keeps men in positions of power and authority.
Ex. Feminist are critical about the patriarchy and want to dismantle it.
Perpetrator – A person who carries out a harmful act on another person.
Ex. The perpetrator was held accountable for their hurtful actions.
Punitive Justice- The belief that perpetrators deserve punishment rather than rehabilitation.
Ex. The Punitive Justice System focuses on sending perpetrators of a crime to prison and limiting their rights.
Queer – A reclaimed slur, political identity, and umbrella term for non-heterosexual/non-cisgender people to self-identify.
Ex. Some schools offer resources for queer and trans students.
Reclamation– The process of recovering something that was taken from you.
Ex. Queer is a reclaimed slur with a complicated history.
Rehabilitation – The act or process of dedicating time to someone so they can grow beyond their mistakes or struggles
Transformative Politics –
Transgender – A person whose gender identity does not match the gender or sex assigned to them at birth.
TGNC – Acronym that stands for Transgender and Gender Non Conforming including transgender men and women, non-binary folks, and those who otherwise do not identify as cisgender and/or within the western gender binary.