Voices | Meet Jennifer Love: “Performance was my gateway to self-discovery”

Jennifer Love’s first passion was her career as a drag performer. “Performance was my gateway to self-discovery,” she says. But in the early 2000s, her thriving career ended abruptly when she went to prison. As a trans woman, Jennifer endured brutality other people incarcerated with her, but her abuse was met with cold indifference from authorities. She credits her family for giving her the strength to survive. And because of the care she received from her family, she wants to give back. Jennifer has since dedicated her life to helping other formerly incarcerated trans people rejoin their communities after release. “I’ve learned the importance of accountability,” she says. “Now I know that it’s important for me to share my traumas, especially the traumas I’ve overcome.”
You can learn more about the experiences of incarcerated transgender people and their recommendations for policy changes in our report, Advancing Transgender Justice, produced in partnership with Black and Pink National: www.vera.org/a...
Vera works to end the overcriminalization and mass incarceration of people of color, people who are immigrants, and people experiencing poverty. Vera Voices centers the lives of those most impacted by these injustices. By sharing the stories of system-impacted people, we aim to move past the labels that strip them of their humanity and dispel the negative stereotypes forced upon them.
For more information and to find out how you can help us end mass incarceration, visit Vera.org
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