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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Nov
20
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Filed Under LGBTQ, activism, bigotry, gender, human rights, trans, transphobia and trans misogyny, violence against women and girls | Posted by Cara |
Today is the 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. This day memorializes those who have been killed due to anti-transgender hatred, whether the victims were transgender themselves or perceived to be.
Julie Serano has an amazing post on the subject up at Feministing, which I encourage you to read. According to the most recent statistics (both pdf) that I could find, there is more than one murder motivated by trans hatred each month. This is most likely a conservative estimate, because many of these crimes are not reported or listed as hate crimes. And it was just reported yesterday that U.S. hate crimes rates went up in 2006, but not every all counties report these numbers, and hate crimes based on gender identity may or may not be included in the statistics for hate crimes based on sexual orientation. Gender identity and sexual orientation should be two separate categories of hate crime, but the two are often conflated and sometimes gender identity is not considered at all. Only seven state and the District of Columbia have hate crime legislation that includes gender identity or expression.
A partial list of victims through 2006 can be viewed here, along with the causes of death. A partial 2007 list is here.
Here is a list of 2007 Transgender Day of Remembrance events, from all over the world. Consider attending one if you can.
UPDATE: This is an absolutely great post and you should go read it now.
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
I did read the Quenchzine article that you referenced. I just want to say that being white and middle-class (as I am) does not completely insulate one from transphobia. During my school years, I suffered from daily harassment and frequent beatings because of my gender variance, and in recent years (since I transitioned) I have been chased down the street and harassed more than I care to think about.
There seems to be an undercurrent that trans folk who have skin and economic privilege have nothing to worry about; as if being trans is not itself an axis of oppression. I fully acknowledge that young trans women of color are at *much* greater risk than I am, but I am at risk of violence and I don’t like being brushed aside because I’m white.
Yes, be angry at my privilege and racism, but don’t pretend that everything is peachy keen for me trans-wise.
You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, Rachel, and I imagine that in this area it means a hell of a lot more than mine. But I didn’t feel like that’s what the post did when I first read it, and after reading your comments I read it again and still didn’t think that it was brushing aside the danger faced by white transgender people. But I do apologize for having offended you.
You did not offend me, Cara…it was the tone of the article that the link referenced, not anything that you said / did not say.