Trans* Day of Remembrance

[Miss Absynthe]

Posted on FB by a friend of mine... and I think that it sums it up perfectly:

It's Trans* Day of Remembrance.

Trans* people face ongoing violence and discrimination both in wider communities and within queer communities. The ongoing cost of cissupremacy is paid for in the deaths of trans* people, especially trans* women and transfeminine people, trans* people of colour and sex workers.

Until we, as a queer community, take up the struggle against not only cissexism but racism, economic injustice and the stigmatisation and oppression of sex workers, we can't claim to be serving the most vulnerable in our communities.

Trans* day of remembrance isn't just about memorialising the dead, it's about remembering that our politics have to be transformative if we ever hope to address the truly obscene rates of violence and trauma faced by trans* people.

And this week from The Huffington Post...

When Matthew Shepard was beaten bloody, tied to a fence, and left to die alone in agony, a call was heard around the United States for tolerance toward differing sexual orientations. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community banded together, mourned and got to work to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a law that expands the definition of a hate crime to sexual orientation and gender identity. Thankfully, we've come to a better place and time where gays and lesbians can focus on marriage issues, Don't Ask, Don't Tell and employment discrimination. These are all extremely important issues, so naturally some other stuff is going to have to wait. Things like, say, burning bodies.

It is not surprising to me that virtually no one is familiar with the name Shelley Hilliard. Shelley's body was just found on the side of a busy highway in Detroit last week, burned to death. Shelley's mother, who had reported to police that her much-beloved teen was missing, had to visit the medical examiner's office to identify her child's torso -- all that remained.

Shelley was part of a much-disparaged group whose high rates of HIV, physical and sexual abuse and murders go largely unnoticed by the LGBT community, both in terms of consciousness and in terms of programming and funding. I'm talking about transgender individuals -- especially young transwomen of color. Nov. 20 is the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which memorializes all individuals who were murdered because of their gender identity over the past year.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pete-s...b_1093522.html

I have friends who are transgender, and even though I have been in their lives for years I am constantly surprised by the level of hatred, bigotry and violence leveled towards them. A close friend of mine went to see a stand-up comedian last week (one who is actually known for his 'forward-thinking', alternative views and who often makes comments in the media about the need for equality for all people) - his act was made up largely of transmisogynist jokes and comments about men in dresses. The only reason that my friend didn't walk out is because she was too scared of the attention that it might have placed on her.

I can't imagine the incredible stress that transgender people must face day after day, and yet they exist with such fierceness and strength. I hope everyone can celebrate trans* people for being fierce too, and challenge the systematic violence, oppression and silencing of trans voices.

[Grausamkeit]

Syn, I agree. I have trans* friends and I always worry if I haven't heard from them in a while. It boggles the mind how threatened some humans feel about others who just want to live their own lives how they see fit. They're not bothering anyone or threatening anybody.

The hate leveled at some of them by other trans* for simply being 'goth' leaves me speechless.

It's bad enough that people outside their community hate them. The divisions and hate within it is stupid.

[Saya]

I think I read somewhere that 1 in 10 trans* folk are murdered. I tried to find statistics on the rates of sexual assault against trans* but all I could find it like one website that said half reported having been ***** at some time, its grossly understudied.

It can't be ignored. Trans* folk face discrimination within the LGBTQ community (I don't get how Dan Savage is held up as this awesome person for the LGBTQ community when he's been pretty open about hating everyone who isnt LG), and even in women's rights circles more must be done. Transphobia in feminism isn't nearly as strong as it used to be, but they do need to be included in the sexual assault and domestic violence literature.

[Miss Absynthe]

Originally Posted by Saya

I think I read somewhere that 1 in 10 trans* folk are murdered. I tried to find statistics on the rates of sexual assault against trans* but all I could find it like one website that said half reported having been ***** at some time, its grossly understudied.

It can't be ignored. Trans* folk face discrimination within the LGBTQ community (I don't get how Dan Savage is held up as this awesome person for the LGBTQ community when he's been pretty open about hating everyone who isnt LG), and even in women's rights circles more must be done. Transphobia in feminism isn't nearly as strong as it used to be, but they do need to be included in the sexual assault and domestic violence literature.

Dan Savage was glitter-bombed again last week. He was asked by someone what his thoughts were about her boyfriend watching porn with transgendered women in it, he said that it was sick and used the term 'she-males'. The person who threw the glitter at him was arrested and charged with assault.

When it comes to sexual assault and violence stats, the big problem with it is lack of reporting. THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT BLAMING THE VICTIM, BUT IS A STATEMENT ABOUT THOSE WHO VICTIM BLAME - I think that if someone doesn't want to report their assault then that is their choice and is a totally valid one. Some people feel that the reporting of assault perpetuates the violent act even further. However, there are also those (and this is only in the trans community - it happens a lot with sex workers as well) who feel that they can't report because they will be treated a certain way as people will see them as someone who deserved whatever they got.