Remembering Emi Koyama
The Seattle Office for Civil Rights mourns the passing of Emi Koyama, a tireless activist, artist, and scholar who helped guide our work on gender justice and the criminal legal system. We are grateful for Emi’s many contributions to our office and our community.
A Life Dedicated to Liberation
Emi advocated for and supported people in the sex trade through the Coalition for Rights and Safety for People in the Sex Trade and her mutual aid organization Aileen’s. She was also a pioneer of intersex activism and transfeminism. She wrote “The Transfeminist Manifesto” in 2000, which helped establish transfeminism as a movement and shape how people understood it.
Emi worked toward our liberation from many systems of oppression that intersect in people’s lives, including. Racism, gender-based violence, transmisogyny, patriarchy, the criminal legal system, capitalism, and imperialism—the systems that shape who have power and resources, both within our communities and around the world. She saw these systems come together in the ways people in the sex trade are treated and worked to challenge the harms they caused.
Her Contributions to Our Work
Emi served on SOCR’s Community Task Force on Criminal Legal System Realignment Task Force. Together, the Task Force developed a series of recommendations to reduce the harms of our criminal legal system and build a more equitable city. The Task Force’s work has served as the foundation for our office’s analysis of numerous city policies since. The Task Force’s work also helped launch the Community Responses to Domestic Violence Workgroup, of which Emi was a member.
The Workgroup’s recommendations helped launch several ongoing pilot initiatives to address domestic violence through strategies developed by survivors, and without the involvement of the criminal legal system.
We are deeply grateful for Emi who was always incredibly generous with her time, supporting our staff and Commissions. She shared her deep insights and expertise, challenged us to think differently, and helped strengthen our understanding of how systems of oppression shape people’s lives and experiences in the city. We will remember her for her vision, kindness, and lifelong commitment to justice and liberation.
Remembering Emi
Emi was an intellectual force and important political grounding for all of us in the Task Force through the onset of COVID, in the midst of the George Floyd Rebellion in Seattle and nationwide. Her mischievous and colorful moving jellyfish background, or the bold Yayoi Kusama art that formed her Zoom back drops accompanied the sharp and astute insights she would offer as we developed our policy proposals. She was deeply respected and valued by all of us on the Task Force and her influence and our collaborations shaped me deeply. I will miss Emi as a mentor and a guide.”
— JM Wong, former SOCR staffer and co-facilitator of the Task Force, organizer with Massage Parlor Organizing Project
Emi dedicated her whole life, from her early 20s on, to working for the justice and liberation of community. Her exceptional understanding of systemic oppression led to her advocating for the causes of many seemingly different groups, because she knew we are united under our positionality and fight for freedom. Emi gave so much of her time, money, and power to others because of her enormous heart and dedication. Our movement has been fundamentally shaped by her work, and we will forever be remembering her through our future work.”
— Madison Zack-Wu, sex trade advocate
Emi’s memorial will be held on August 29th at 3:00 PM at Plymouth Church Seattle (1217 6th Ave. Seattle, WA 98101) with virtual streaming options also available. Please complete the RSVP form to attend the memorial. Donations in Emi’s memory can be made to Aileen’s.
Photos provided by Chona Kasinger and Lux Magazine. Read a feature about Emi in Lux Magazine. Follow Chona’s work on her Instagram.
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