Queens DA urges state to repeal 'walking while trans' ban

Trans women and their allies marched through Jackson Heights denouncing transphobia and violence in July 2018. Eagle file photo by Andy Katz

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz urged state lawmakers Monday to repeal a prostitution-related loitering misdemeanor that advocates say has long criminalized “walking while trans” in New York City.

The section of state penal law related to “loitering for the purposes of engaging in a prostitution” has given police officers the power to arrest a person for allegedly stopping, talking to or beckoning at others in a public place. In practice, officers have used arbitrary observations, like a defendant’s clothing, gender identity or gender expression as grounds to make an arrest — in essence, profiling trans women as sex workers.

Analysis of the law’s impact in Queens showed that the statute is “often used to arrest and harass people based on their gender or appearance and adversely impacted already marginalized members of our community,” Katz said in a statement.

“Our objective is not to penalize people who are being victimized or commercially exploited sexually, but rather to connect them to meaningful services, support and tools to enable them to safely exit the sex trade industry,” she continued.

Trans women profiled as sex workers have been arrested while waiting for the bus, and standing near one of several LGBTQ bars on Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights. More than half of the 121 arrests for the offense in New York City in 2018 took place in Queens, mostly concentrated in Jackson Heights and Corona, according to an analysis by the website Documented.

Katz said she has declined to prosecute individuals charged with loitering for the purposes of engaging in prostitution since she took office Jan. 1.

A bill to repeal the loitering statute failed during the last two legislative sessions, despite vocal support from some senators. Manhattan State Sen. Brad Hoylman had pledged to pass the measure this year. Though the legislative session has ended, lawmakers seem set to return to Albany this week to take up new measures related to recent protests against police violence.

“Our community has been criminalized for what they wear, who they are and for existing in public,” the Repeal ‘Walking While Trans’ Ban Coalition told the Eagle in January. “As we go into the 2020 legislative session, we ask that the Democratic-led New York State Legislature finally repeal and repair harm that should never have been inflicted on Black and Latinx trans and cis women.”