Editorial
Editorial
Guest
Editorial:
Remembering the Dead, Informing the Living
As
I write this, Tameka McCloud, age 19, lies in serious condition at Hennepin
County Medical Center in Minneapolis. She is recovering from several gunshots
to her head and body fired at close range. Carlos M. Harris, age 16, has
been charged with the shooting. Harris allegedly had a relationship with
McCloud and shot her after learning that she was transgender. Sadly, what
is most surprising about the case is not that Tameka was shot, but that
she survived. Anti-transgender crimes are often marked by excessive violence
and usually result in murder.
Transgendered people - those who do
not conform to society's expectations of gender expression for men and
women - face discrimination, hostility and violence. This year’s
Transgender Day of Remembrance memorializes 19 people who were killed
by transphobic violence since the last Day of Remembrance. Nineteen people
are dead for no other reason than someone disagreed with their right to
express their gender differently. Every month, at least one person is
murdered because they are - or are perceived to be - transgender. Since
1970, a total of 321 deaths have been recorded globally, and those are
only the deaths known to the transgender community or reported by the
media.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance
(DOR) was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender
hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester,
whose murder on November 28, 1998 gave rise to the "Remembering Our
Dead" web project (www.rememberingourdead.org)
and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester's murder -
like most anti-transgender murder cases - has yet to be solved.
Now in its third year, the Burlington
DOR observance will be held on Friday November 19. Events include a candlelight
vigil, visibility walk, and a memorial indoors at the Unitarian Universalist
Church. For the first time ever, this year will also feature an art show
and film screenings celebrating transgender lives at the Firehouse Gallery,
Wednesday November 17.
The DOR raises public awareness of hate
crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn't
perform. DOR publicly mourns and honors the lives of those who might otherwise
be forgotten. The event reminds non-transgendered people that trans people
are their neighbors, children, parents, friends, and lovers. DOR gives
our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing
the victims of anti-transgender violence.
A powerful element of the Burlington DOR is a
wall of names created by the event organizers to personalize the people
being remembered. Little to nothing is known about many of those who have
died, but it is not difficult to see who the epidemic of violence hits
hardest. Many of those named on the wall are people of color, many were
poor, and most were women. The wall is a visible reminder of who remains
most vulnerable in our society. The wall will be on display outside of
the church and indoors during the memorial.
Because I do not self-identify as transgender,
I do not worry daily that someday my name will appear on this wall, though
there are names on the wall belonging to people killed because of their
connections to trans people. In doing this work I have received threats,
but my connection to the wall is more personal. I am young, 24 years old,
and every year it seems that more young people's names are added to the
wall. Many people being remembered could be my peers. I also work with
young people everyday as Co-Director of Outright Vermont. I see firsthand
the hatred and discrimination trans youth deal with everyday. I worry
that something worse than verbal and physical harassment will
happen to these youth.
Violent transphobic crime has yet
to add the name of a Vermonter to the Remembering Our Dead Project, but
who knows how many lives have been lost to suicide and other devastating
results of transphobia. Among youth, those who dare to express their gender
differently from their peers, who dare to be themselves, are at risk for
physical, emotional, and social violence. Youth are physically beaten
and taunted on the school bus by their peers, administrators punish gender
variant students for their attire even when they are not in violation
of dress codes, bathrooms and locker rooms are a nightmare, and 'benign'
harassment such as gender-segregated classroom assignments torment students
daily.
For the many transgender and gender
variant people in our lives, and for everyone who believes that the freedom
to express our gender is a freedom we should all possess, we need to be
actively seeking an end to transphobic violence in all of its forms.
In the words of Gwen Smith, the founder
of the Remembering Our Dead Project, "We need to remember the one
person we lose every month, but I challenge you to remember those who
are living, and make a world where they are not the next on the list."
Kate Jerman
Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial & Vigil will be held on Friday,
November 19, at the Unitarian Church, Burlington, beginning with a candlelight
vigil at 6 pm, followed by a short procession and a memorial and speakout
inside the Unitarian Church from 7-9 pm. All interested people regardless
of gender identity are welcome to participate. For more information, email
Kate Jerman at Kate@outrightvt.org