Media from protesting the Pacific Justice Institute’s hate

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The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is the ex-gay group who recently bullied a Colorado trans kid to the brink of suicide. At the same time, PJI was working to strip protections for all trans children in California. The PJI-backed coalition worked tirelessly to paint trans children as threats, sexual deviants an unstable. Their campaign of lies, fraud and intimidation produced over 600,000 signatures in support of discrimination against trans children. Unsurprisingly, California’s school district has seen a recent uptick of anti-trans crimes targeting trans children. In one case, a genderqueer student was set on fire and in another, a trans student was attacked by numerous cisgender students after reporting that she had been bullied by her attackers. Both cases are being investigated as possible hate crimes.

Adam Ackley
Adam Ackley

Adam Ackley, a transgender theology professor who was dismissed from Christian College after he came out said that he was there to protest PJI’s bullying, “I’m here to support all transgender people against ‘Christian‘ bullies, particularly adults who harass children claiming that it is a ‘nightmare scenario when a child uses the bathroom. We have a 16-year-old transgender sister who’s been bullied to the point of suicide. As a Christian minister, that it’s being done in the name of Christianity absolutely objectionable.”

We here at the TransAdvocate felt that enough was enough. We felt that it was time someone took this fight to PJI’s front doorstep. Those who chose to call out PJI’s obdurate behavior were trans allies, parents, youth, war veterans, clergy, and attorneys as well as 100s of virtual protesters who used the #JD4PJI tag to draw attention to PJI’s bullying.

100s of virtual protesters who used the #JD4PJI tag to draw attention to PJI’s bullying

 

TransAdvocate report on the day’s events

 

Cristan Williams is a trans historian and pioneer in addressing the practical needs of underserved communities. She started the first trans homeless shelter in Texas and co-founded the first federally funded housing-first homeless program, pioneered affordable health care for trans people in the Houston area, won the right for trans people to change their gender on Texas ID prior to surgery, started numerous trans social service programs and founded the Transgender Center as well as the Transgender Archives. She has published short stories, academic chapters and papers, and numerous articles for both print and digital magazines. She received numerous awards for her advocacy and has presented at universities throughout the nation, served on several governmental committees and CBO boards, is the Editor of the TransAdvocate, and is a founding board member of the Transgender Foundation of America and the Bee Busy Wellness Center.