Vision
BreakOUT! envisions a city where transgender, gender non-conforming, and queer youth of color can live without fear of harassment and discrimination.
Mission
BreakOUT! seeks to end the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-confomring (TGNC), queer, nonbinary and, intersex (LGBTQI) youth to build a more just New Orleans. We inherit the rich cultural tradition of resistance in the Deep South to mobilize the power of LGBTQI Black, African Diasporic, Latinx, Asian, Indigenous, Arab and multi-racial youth, ages 13+ directly impacted by the criminal legal system through youth organizing, healing justice, and leadership development.
BreakOUT!
2012
Second Annual Allied Media Conference
BreakOUT! attends their second annual Allied Media Conference in Detroit, MI.
Right to the City’s Urban Congress
BreakOUT! attends the Right to the City’s Urban Congress and participates in an action and rally outside of ICE and City Hall.
One-year Anniversary!
BreakOUT! celebrates its one-year anniversary!
We Deserve Better Video
BreakOUT! delivers its video, produced with FosterBear Films, “We Deserve Better” to the NOPD for use in officer trainings.
Vigil For Brenting & Githe
BreakOUT! remembers the lives of two community members lost to violence, Brenting and Githe, and holds a memorial vigil at Tulane and Broad.
2011
Members Attend IGNITE! LGBTQ Youth Media Camp
Two BreakOUT! members attend the LGBTQ youth of color IGNITE Media Camp, hosted by SPARK in Atlanta, GA.
BreakOUT!’s 1st Meeting w/ NOPD
BreakOUT! has its first meeting with the NOPD about adopting an LGBTQ policy.
BreakOUT! Holds 1st Storycircle
BreakOUT! holds our first Storycircle with allies at the Congress of Day Laborers. Through a translator, we discuss similarities and differences in our experiences of police profiling, access to jobs, and access to public space in our own City. Calling our partnership “From Vice to ICE,” over the next 2 years BreakOUT! attends a rally…
1st Allied Media Conference
Three BreakOUT! members attend the Allied Media Conference in Detroit, MI.
BreakOUT! Conducts It’s First Survey
BreakOUT! conducts its first survey and finds that 15 out of 15 young Black trans girls in New Orleans have been approached by an NOPD officer for sex.
BreakOUT! Youth Space Opens!
BreakOUT! opens its youth space and hosts an official Coming Out Party on May 17th, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. BreakOUT! is comprised of 6 Founding Members: Milan Nicole Sherry, Jonathan Willis, Lhundyn Palmer, Kenisha Harris, Amhari Alexander, De-De Jackson
Press Conference
BreakOUT! speaks at a press conference with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Women With a Vision about discriminatory and overly-punitive Crimes Against Nature laws.
1st Know Your Rights Training
A group of young people, mostly Black transgender young women, come together for the first Know Your Rights Training with the Independent Police Monitor at Women With a Vision.
2010
Meeting with Department of Justice
In late 2010, people from Women With a Vision, Brotherhood Inc., the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana’s LGBTQ Youth Project, and an unorganized group of LGBTQ young people come together with other community partners to meet with the Department of Justice, who is investigating the New Orleans Police Department. After discussing issues related to the…