Ingersoll Gender Center

Ingersoll was founded in 1977 by Marsha C. Botzer and gained non-profit status in 1984.{{Cite web|title=How to Support Seattle's LGBTQ Community During (and After) the Pandemic|url=https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/seattle/how-to-support-the-lgbtq-community-in-seattle|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Thrillist|date=18 August 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite web|last1=Constant|first1=Paul|last2=Graves|first2=Jen|last3=Herz|first3=Ansel|last4=Holden|first4=Dominic|last5=Madrid|first5=Cienna|last6=Minard|first6=Anna|title=The Smartest People in Seattle Politics|url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-smartest-people-in-seattle-politics/Content?oid=18203654|access-date=2021-07-28|website=The Stranger|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2012-01-24|title=The 21 Most Lesbianish Cities in the US: The Autostraddle Guide|url=https://www.autostraddle.com/the-21-most-lesbianish-cities-in-the-us-128377/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Autostraddle|language=en-US}} One of the reasons Botzer has cited for founding the organization is a problem of joblessness and underemployment of transgender people.{{Cite web|last1=Turnbull|first1=Lornet|last2=Times|first2=The Seattle|date=2013-07-01|title=Overshadowed by gay and lesbian compatriots, the transgender community is fighting for acceptance - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper|url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2013/jul/01/overshadowed-their-gay-and-lesbian-compatriots-tra/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=lasvegassun.com|language=en}} Botzer is quoted in the 2021 book Going to Trinidad by journalist Martin J. Smith that in the early years of the center she would tuck Ingersoll Center business cards between the pages of books in the Seattle Public Library's small collection of books on the subject of gender as an attempt to get the word out about the center's services in the pre-Internet era.{{Cite web|date=2021-04-15|title=New book highlights Seattle's role in transgender movement|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/new-book-highlights-seattles-role-in-transgender-movement/|access-date=2021-12-16|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}} The primary service provided by Ingersoll is support groups led by local transgender and gender non-conforming people for their peers who are in need of support.{{Cite web|last=Herman|first=Augusta|date=2021-06-14|title=Taking an upstream approach to preventing LGBTQ youth cannabis use|url=https://publichealthinsider.com/2021/06/14/taking-an-upstream-approach-to-preventing-lgbtq-youth-cannabis-use/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Public Health Insider|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Changing Genders at Work: Inside the Fortune 500's Quiet Transgender Revolution|url=https://fortune.com/2015/07/13/transgender-fortune-500/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Fortune|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Pak|first=Samantha|date=2019-06-28|title=Proud to be themselves {{!}} Windows and Mirrors|url=https://www.kirklandreporter.com/opinion/proud-to-be-themselves-windows-and-mirrors/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Kirkland Reporter|language=en-US}} Another service the organization provides is helping individuals access gender affirming healthcare and navigate their health insurance.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-20|title=In for a renewed fight? Why Seattle-area LGBTQ+ rights advocates are nervous about the new Supreme Court|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/life/in-for-a-renewed-fight-why-seattle-area-lgbtq-rights-advocates-are-nervous-about-the-new-supreme-court/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}} The center has also worked with people who have been through conversion therapy in and around the Seattle region before a law was passed in 2016 that outlawed the practice within the city.{{Cite web|title=Successful Conversion — From Bill to Law|url=http://www.realchangenews.org/news/2016/08/10/successful-conversion-bill-law|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.realchangenews.org|language=en}}

In 2012, the organization launched a program for vocational support called Seattle Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (STEEP).{{Cite web|date=2012-01-26|title=Ingersoll Gender Center Introduces Vocational Support Program|url=https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2012/01/ingersoll-gender-center-introduces-vocational-support-program/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=CHS Capitol Hill Seattle|language=en-US}} Botzer joined a Seattle LGBTQ task force under Mayor Ed Murray, and in 2015 the task force proposed city-wide legislation requiring that all single-occupancy restrooms be available as all gender restrooms.{{Cite web|date=2015-06-25|title=Seattle, where 'restrooms are available and safe for all'|url=https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2015/06/seattle-where-restrooms-are-available-and-safe-for-all/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=CHS Capitol Hill Seattle|language=en-US}} Later that year the proposal was made law as the All Gender Restroom Ordinance.{{Cite web|title=Municode Library|url=https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT14HURI_CH14.07ANDSICURERE|access-date=2021-07-28|website=library.municode.com}}{{Cite web|title=All-Gender Restrooms - CivilRights |url=https://www.seattle.gov/civilrights/what-we-do/gender-justice-project/all-gender-restrooms|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.seattle.gov}}{{Cite web|date=2016-08-19|title=Complaints, but no fines so far, as Seattle adjusts to all-gender restroom law|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/complaints-but-no-fines-so-far-under-seattles-all-gender-restroom-law/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Kate|title=Seattle is making public bathrooms gender-neutral|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/seattle-public-bathrooms-gender-neutral-2015-8|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Business Insider|language=en-US}} This made Seattle one of the first U.S. cities to enact such a law.{{Cite news|last=Ball|first=Aimee Lee|date=2015-11-05|title=In All-Gender Restrooms, the Signs Reflect the Times|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/style/transgender-restroom-all-gender.html|access-date=2021-07-28|issn=0362-4331}} The law and other local ordinances in Washington state were contested on a state-wide level when a voter initiative was created to ban such laws within the state. Ingersoll Gender Center lobbied in favor of the law and the rights of local municipalities during this time.{{Cite web|last=Cohen|first=Gabe|date=2017-03-01|title=Fighting for a voice: the progress of Washington's transgender community|url=https://komonews.com/news/local/fighting-for-a-voice-the-progress-of-washingtons-transgender-community|access-date=2021-07-28|website=KOMO}}

After Donald Trump became President of the United States, Ingersoll Gender Center started publishing annual voter's guides with the first being for 2017.{{Cite web|last=Fowler|first=Lilly|title=Under threat from Trump, transgender community leans on local rights |url=https://crosscut.com/2018/10/under-threat-trump-transgender-community-leans-local-rights|access-date=2021-07-16|website=crosscut.com|language=en}}

At the start of 2017, University of Washington School of Medicine launched a program to focus on training doctors in LGBTQ+ healthcare with collaboration and consulting from the gender center.{{Cite web|last=Dalmacio|first=Isabella|title=New LGBTQIA+ pathway at UW Medicine sets precedent for larger inclusivity|url=https://www.dailyuw.com/wellness/article_bf2aaf78-d300-11e6-a1ec-df8be24dd9be.html|access-date=2021-07-28|website=The Daily of the University of Washington|date=5 January 2017 |language=en}}

The group lobbied for Washington state to allow the gender marker "X" option on driver's licenses and identification cards, which became state policy in November 2019.{{Cite web|last=Gupta|first=Ragini|title='Nonbinary genders are valid': Washington state begins issuing licenses with gender marker 'X'|url=https://crosscut.com/2019/11/nonbinary-genders-are-valid-washington-state-begins-issuing-licenses-gender-marker-x|access-date=2021-07-16|website=crosscut.com|language=en}} The organization has also worked with local real estate developers on an affordable housing project in the historically LGBTQ Capitol Hill neighborhood for seniors.{{Cite web|date=2021-06-24|title=Welcome to Pride Place, Capitol Hill — Eight stories of LGBTQ-affirming affordable senior housing ready to rise above Broadway|url=https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2021/06/welcome-to-pride-place-capitol-hill-eight-stories-of-lgbtq-affirming-affordable-senior-housing-ready-to-rise-above-broadway/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=CHS Capitol Hill Seattle|language=en-US}} Also in 2019, Botzer was appointed to a King County Council task force as a representative of Ingersoll Gender Center.{{Cite web|date=June 26, 2019|title=County Council Confirms Members of Task Force focused on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation|url=https://kingcounty.gov/council/news/2019/June/06-26-GenderInclusionTF.aspx|access-date=July 28, 2021|website=kingcounty.gov|archive-date=January 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110235346/https://kingcounty.gov/council/news/2019/June/06-26-GenderInclusionTF.aspx|url-status=dead}} The purpose of the task force was to "spread awareness and understanding of gender nonconforming individuals and their experience with county departments and facilities".

In 2020, the organization launched COVID-19 response programs to assist the communities it serves with issues brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-24|title="You Don't Have to Know Yourself Right Away": Iris Shares Her Journey of Self Discovery As a Transgender Woman|url=https://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/transgender/|access-date=2021-07-16|website=On the Pulse|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623082440/https://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/transgender/|url-status=dead}} Part of the city of Seattle's early relief efforts was to distribute grocery store vouchers to residents who had lost work due to the pandemic. The city gave some vouchers to organizations, including Ingersoll Gender Center, to distribute within their communities to impacted families and individuals.{{Cite web|date=2020-04-23|title=Coronavirus daily news updates, April 23: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the nation|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/coronavirus-daily-news-updates-april-23-what-to-know-today-about-covid-19-in-the-seattle-area-washington-state-and-the-nation/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=The Seattle Times|language=en-US}}

In 2021 the Seattle Police Department was banned from participating in Capitol Hill Seattle Pride's march, and some gay cops said that they felt excluded from the Pride event. Botzer suggested a potential strategy to create solidarity between police and the LGBT community would be for the police department to hire more transgender cops, which she argued would reduce the accounts of police violence against transgender people.{{Cite web|date=2021-06-01|title=Rantz: Gay cops rail against Seattle pride ban as groups push them 'back in closet'|url=https://mynorthwest.com/2924389/rantz-gay-cops-rail-against-seattle-pride-ban-as-groups-push-them-back-in-closet/?|access-date=2021-07-16|website=MyNorthwest.com}}

In 2019 the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) made an announcement of a new "trans-centered" framework, making transgender issues a priority for the organization for the first time.{{Cite web|date=2019-09-27|title=HRC President to Unveil New Framework Centering Transgender Community|url=https://www.out.com/activism/2019/9/27/hrc-president-unveil-new-framework-centering-transgender-community|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.out.com|language=en}} Dozens of transgender activists and organizations wrote an open letter of criticism and concern over this announcement.{{Cite web|date=2019-10-02|title=Nearly 100 Trans Advocates Pen Open Letter to Human Rights Campaign|url=https://www.colorlines.com/articles/nearly-100-trans-advocates-pen-open-letter-human-rights-campaign|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.colorlines.com|language=en}} The letter said that the HRC was a cisgender-led organization that was co-opting ideas and efforts made by transgender (and especially trans people of color) activists.{{Cite web|date=2019-10-01|title=An Open Letter to HRC From Trans Community Leaders|url=https://www.out.com/activism/2019/10/01/open-letter-hrc-trans-community-leaders|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.out.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Online Extra: LGBTQ Agenda: Activists blast Human Rights Campaign over new trans initiative|url=https://www.ebar.com/news/news//282808|access-date=2021-07-28|website=The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc.|language=en}} Two leaders of Ingersoll Gender Center signed this letter.

{{See also|George Floyd protests|George Floyd protests in Seattle}}

Ingersoll Gender Center signed on with over 100 other American LGBT organizations to condemn racism in policing and police brutality following the murder of George Floyd.{{Cite web|title=Over 100 LGBTQ+ organizations release open letter in solidarity with George Floyd protests|url=https://goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/100-lgbtq-organizations-release-open-letter-solidarity-george-70991937|access-date=2021-07-16|website=ABC News|language=en}}

On March 12, 2021 about a dozen present and former staff of Ingersoll came together as Ingersoll Collective Action and released a petition on actionnetwork.org alleging racist and abusive working conditions within the organization. The collective self-identified as Black, persons of color, transgender, and disabled current and former employees. The petition included a list of allegations and demanded the resignations of Executive Director Karter Booher, Program Director Jonathan Lee Williams, and Operations Director Louis Mitchell. Other demands included a public apology, an investigation to be performed, and that racial equity consultants be brought into the organization. Evelyn Chow, a member of Ingersoll Collective Action who was also the company's economic justice manager at the time told the South Seattle Emerald that the local community of transgender people of color had known of a history of problems within Ingersoll for years before the petition was created. An impetus for making the concerns public in March 2021 was that a Black Ingersoll employee felt their work in the support of Washington Senate Bill 5313 was being downplayed and misattributed.

Several other nonprofit organizations working in a similar space to Ingersoll made public statements in support of the petition. Among these were Queer the Land, Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network, Pride Foundation, Alphabet Alliance of Color, Seattle Pride, and Gender Justice League.{{Cite web|title=Seattle Pride Addresses Ingersoll Collective Concerns|url=https://www.seattlepride.org/news/seattle-pride-addresses-ingersoll-collective-concerns|access-date=Jul 16, 2021|website=Seattle Pride|publication-date=April 21, 2021}}

The board of Ingersoll Gender Center responded in a public statement and pledged to conduct an investigation on March 17, 2021. Ingersoll Collective Action published a response to their request for transparency with the investigation to their website, which said that the center had hired Onik’a Gilliam-Cathcart from the Seattle law firm Helsell Fetterman. However on March 23, Ingersoll Collective Action made another public post stating their disappointment with the response from the organization to date. On March 26 the center announced to their staff that all staff and contractors would be receiving two weeks of paid time off starting April 3, 2021 and that Gilliam-Cathcart would be reaching out to current staff during that period as a part of the investigation. On April 16, Ingersoll announced that Karter Booher and Louis Mitchell were resigning for personal reasons and their departure would be effective June 1, 2021.

• Greater Seattle Business Association Nonprofit of the Year 2015{{Cite web|title=Holland America, Space Needle, Linda Derschang win top GSBA honors|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/morning_call/2015/02/holland-america-space-needle-linda-derschang-win.html|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.bizjournals.com}}

{{reflist}}

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state)

Category:Transgender organizations in the United States

Category:1977 establishments in Washington (state)