Janetta Johnson is the Executive Director of the TGI Justice Project.
19 Facts About Janetta Johnson
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Janetta Johnson's work is primarily concerned about the rights and safety of incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated transgender and gender-non-conforming people.
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Janetta Johnson believes that the abolition of police and the prison industrial complex will help support the safety of transgender people, and she identifies as an abolitionist.
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Janetta Johnson came out as a transgender woman in the 1980s.
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In 1997, Janetta Johnson moved from her hometown, Tampa, Florida, to San Francisco in order to be mentored by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a transgender rights activist, prison abolitionist, and former director of the TGI Justice Project.
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Janetta Johnson describes Miss Major as her "adopted trans mother" because Miss Major extensively mentored and supported her.
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When she initially came to San Francisco, Janetta Johnson faced houselessness and stayed in a shelter, but she still closely worked under Miss Major's leadership.
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Janetta Johnson became involved in a nine-month, early release program while incarcerated, which shortened her sentence, and she was released on May 21,2012.
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In 2015, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy retired from the TGI Justice Project and Janetta Johnson was hired as the new Executive Director.
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Janetta Johnson identifies as an abolitionist in a variety of ways, namely in terms of police and prisons.
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Janetta Johnson believes in obtaining economic justice for trans and gender-non-conforming individuals.
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Miss Major remained in regular communication with Janetta Johnson while incarcerated and told her that once she was released from prison, she wanted Janetta Johnson to be the next Executive Director of the TGI Justice Project.
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In 2015, Miss Major retired and Janetta Johnson became the Executive Director of TGI Justice.
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Janetta Johnson initiated TGI Justice Project's re-entry program that helps transgender and gender-variant people re-enter society immediately after being released from prison in order to prevent recidivism.
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Janetta Johnson noted that there was an increase in donations to the TGI Justice Project after the uprising about the murder of George Floyd that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Janetta Johnson co-founded the non-profit TAJA's Coalition in February 2015.
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In 2017, Janetta Johnson co-founded the world's first legally recognized transgender cultural district, The Transgender District, in the Tenderloin of San Francisco with Honey Mahogany and Aria Sa'id, two other Black trans women.
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Janetta Johnson worked on the California legislative campaign to pass Senate Bill 310, commonly known as the Name and Dignity Act, which was co-sponsored by the TGI Justice Project and successfully passed in October 2017.
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Janetta Johnson has formerly been a member of the Transgender Law Center's national coalition.