Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Roberts.
Hi Jamie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Griffin and moved to Atlanta for the first time in 1995. I got into law school at UGA and spent three years in Athens. That was when I first came out as transgender. As I began my gender transition in my mid-20s, I found a supportive community in East Atlanta where I went to a support group of other trans and gender-questioning people at a small church in Ormewood Park. I made lifelong friends among this group of people. As I began my career in the legal profession in Georgia working for nonprofit law firm in Macon, I also started to become an advocate for the transgender and gender nonbinary community in Macon and Atlanta. Through my job providing civil legal assistance to people living with HIV and AIDS in middle Georgia, I met lots of wonderful people and advocates, many of whom are no longer with us.
Later in my legal career, I worked as a public defender for a county office in middle Georgia. I had this job for over 10 and 1/2 years and it’s one of the greatest roles I’ve had him my life and one of my greatest challenges. I got a lot of satisfaction from this job at the same time that it was mentally and emotionally grueling. Nonetheless, I’m very grateful to have served the people of Georgia in this role.
It happened that a member of our support group in Atlanta got fired from her job at a college in Middle Georgia so she moved to Atlanta. She had a hard time finding work, though, and her resources soon dwindled. She went to a homeless shelter downtown but they told her that she couldn’t stay unless she wore men’s clothes and stayed in the men’s dorm where she would be vulnerable to attack. She lived in her truck and eventually committed suicide. Her name was Alice Johnston. Also, myself and other activists in the community like Cheryl Courtney-Evans and Tracee McDaniels frequently got calls about where trans and non-binary people experiencing homelessness to go. We decided to organize a community response to this problem. That’s how Trans Housing Atlanta Program, Inc. was founded in 2014 from a series of town-hall meetings of the transgender and gender non-conforming community of Metro Atlanta and allies. Through the creation of THAP, eligible transgender and gender non-binary people receive monetary assistance and referrals to immediately address the Atlanta Metropolitan’s TGNC community housing needs, through THAP’s case management program. To date, THAP has assisted hundreds of local TGNC individuals to secure housing and linkage to subsequent wrap-around services. We also have a Capital Fund with a goal of raising $250,000.00 in order to purchase our own housing that will be community-owned and will assist our Rapid Rehousing efforts consistent with our mission. I’m proud to be a co-founder and volunteer with this organization.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As far as my legal career has gone, I’ve had some success as well as some setbacks. A couple of years after I came out as transgender to my nonprofit law firm in Macon and began living and working as a woman, I was fired. After a stint working for LaGender, Inc., Atlanta’s first nonprofit centering transgender people, I got a job as a public defender in a county in middle Georgia. At first, no one knew I was transgender but it wasn’t long before I was outed. I eventually found a mentor in the profession, Suellen Fleming, but she died of a heart attack about ten years ago.
As far as my volunteer work, when we first started out with Trans Housing Atlanta Program, there were very few foundations that were funding nonprofits organized and ran by trans and nonbinary folks. We raised money through small contributions and events. We’re a small organization and most of us weren’t nonprofit professionals. It took us a long time to build our capacity to the point where we could hire an employee. In addition, many of our organizers experienced discrimination in housing and employment and other areas and couldn’t maintain their level of engagement for a sustained period of time. We’ve grown slowly over the years but thankfully the number of foundations funding trans and non-binary nonprofits have grown. Someday soon we hope to have enough capacity to be eligible for government funding.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an attorney with a focus on criminal defense. I was a public defender in middle Georgia for 10 and a half years. Currently, I work for a small criminal defense law firm in downtown Atlanta. I’m proud of the work I’ve done ensuring that people’s rights are protected within the criminal justice system, of the trials I’ve won and the cases I’ve gotten dismissed. When I first began practicing law in 1999, there weren’t a whole lot of women and even fewer openly lgbtq+ people in my profession. This situation has changed for the better and I think it’s possible that just being engaged in my profession as an openly transgender woman has helped make it easier for others like me in the profession to work openly and proudly.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
My volunteer work with Trans Housing Atlanta Program is truly my passion and I’m always welcoming people to become volunteers, contributors, and allies to this work. There are still many inequities in our society based on race, sexuality, and gender. I believe that housing is a human right and I’m always working on ways to engage with people and institutions to dismantle the barriers to safe access to housing for all.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.transhousingatlantaprogram.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thap_house/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/THAPhouse/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/THAP_House
Image Credits
Tracee McDaniel, Chanel Haley, Katrice Baker, Justine Ingram
