SONG’s Free From Fear campaign in Durham launched in January 2015 as part of a regional campaign effort to demand an end to profiling and state violence against people of color and LGBTQ people in southern towns and cities. The Durham Free From Fear campaign has been working on the implementation of standard operating procedures within the police department to address police interactions with LGBTQ communities.
“While (House Bill 2) attempts to neutralize the power of municipalities and local governments to govern themselves and respond to needs and desires of their communities, it is hugely important that we take the steps that we can to ensure the safety and the dignity of trans, gender nonconforming, and LGBT community.”
– China Medel (Song Member)
By implementing standard operating procedures, the city can, “actively speak out against these attacks and would have real effects.”
“In light of HB2 and other bills like it across the South, it is more important than ever that municipalities and other local government formalize these kinds of protocols and create systems that hold law enforcement accountable for the treatment of our trans and gender nonconforming community.”