Last month, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the national ACLU filed a lawsuit against the NYPD on behalf of Linda Dominguez, a transgender woman who was arrested by the NYPD and prosecuted by the Bronx District Attorney’s office for “false personation” because she provided the NYPD with both her new legal name (pursuant to a legal name change) and her old name she was given at birth. While she was in their custody, police officers harassed and cruelly mocked Linda because she is transgender.

My office, The Bronx Defenders, represented Linda in the underlying criminal case. As the LGBTQ client specialist at The Bronx Defenders, I represent many of the hundreds of transgender clients who are arrested and prosecuted in the Bronx every year. What Linda experienced was, unfortunately, the norm for the NYPD, but what was uncommon about Linda was her willingness to move forward with a lawsuit to hold the police accountable.