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transI have made 60 different flyers for 60 different faces of those who have been murdered due to transphobia and genderphobia. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to finish making all 87 faces (at http://www.gender.org/remember, there are 87 people who have photos).
However, I have converted all 60 I did make into a PDF file and would like to pass them on to anyone interested in usig them. They could be posted around your town, campus, used for a display, etc.
I have also written a speech, adapted from the "About" statement written by Gwendolyn Ann Smith on the Remembrance site. I have posted that speech behind the cut below. It is intended for a vigil, but can be adapted to be used for other events relating to International Transgender Day of Remembrance. I can also email this to you in a Micorsoft Word file if you are interested.
Comment with you email address if you are interested in receiving either or both of these documents-- I will email them to you with the subject line "Trans DOR resources".
Vigil Speech:
We have adapted this speech from a statement written by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, Founder of International Transgender Day of Remembrance
We are gathered here this evening to honor the memory of those individuals who have suffered due to transphobic and genderphobic violence. We have lost many people to hatred and prejudice, yet we still are not seemingly willing to fight back. Meanwhile, People are dying at the hands of a lover, of police, of medical practitioners, and even parents, while the news media calls these individuals “freaks” — and worse.
In fact, the media’s reluctance to cover the deaths of transgender and gender variant people lies near the heart of International Transgender Day of Remembrance. It can be all-but-impossible to find honest, reliable media on the death of a transgendered person: It either does not exist, or it uses names that the deceased did not own, and pronouns that did not fit their reality. In this way, many transgender people suffer a second death.
There is no “safe way” to be transgender: as you hear the many names and stories tonight, note that some of these people may have identified as drag queens or kings, some as crossdressers, some as transsexuals, and some as other identities. **Some were living very out lives, and others were living fully “stealth” lives. Some were identifying as men, and others as women. Some were identifying as both, some as neither. Some lived in small towns, and others in major metropolitan areas.
Transphobia is not the only cause for these deaths. The majority of those whom we mourn tonight are transwomen, black, or latino/latina. Many were also sex-workers and living on the streets. We must remember that oppressions cannot be separated out. These deaths are indicative of other hateful trends in our culture—violence against people of color; violence against women; violence against those involved in sex work; violence against those in lower socioeconomic statuses.
Over the last decade, one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. It is estimated that today in America a person perceived to be transgender has a one in twelve chance of being murdered, whereas a non-transgender person (also known as a cisgender person) has a one in eighteen-thousand chance of being murdered. These trends show no signs of abating.
George Santayana once said “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Will we be willing to bear yet another century of violence and hatred aimed at those who do not so easily wear “man” or “woman?”
When you hear these names and stories here tonight, remember these people. Cry for those whom we have lost, and let your anger out for a society that would allow them to die.
However, I have converted all 60 I did make into a PDF file and would like to pass them on to anyone interested in usig them. They could be posted around your town, campus, used for a display, etc.
I have also written a speech, adapted from the "About" statement written by Gwendolyn Ann Smith on the Remembrance site. I have posted that speech behind the cut below. It is intended for a vigil, but can be adapted to be used for other events relating to International Transgender Day of Remembrance. I can also email this to you in a Micorsoft Word file if you are interested.
Comment with you email address if you are interested in receiving either or both of these documents-- I will email them to you with the subject line "Trans DOR resources".
Vigil Speech:
We have adapted this speech from a statement written by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, Founder of International Transgender Day of Remembrance
We are gathered here this evening to honor the memory of those individuals who have suffered due to transphobic and genderphobic violence. We have lost many people to hatred and prejudice, yet we still are not seemingly willing to fight back. Meanwhile, People are dying at the hands of a lover, of police, of medical practitioners, and even parents, while the news media calls these individuals “freaks” — and worse.
In fact, the media’s reluctance to cover the deaths of transgender and gender variant people lies near the heart of International Transgender Day of Remembrance. It can be all-but-impossible to find honest, reliable media on the death of a transgendered person: It either does not exist, or it uses names that the deceased did not own, and pronouns that did not fit their reality. In this way, many transgender people suffer a second death.
There is no “safe way” to be transgender: as you hear the many names and stories tonight, note that some of these people may have identified as drag queens or kings, some as crossdressers, some as transsexuals, and some as other identities. **Some were living very out lives, and others were living fully “stealth” lives. Some were identifying as men, and others as women. Some were identifying as both, some as neither. Some lived in small towns, and others in major metropolitan areas.
Transphobia is not the only cause for these deaths. The majority of those whom we mourn tonight are transwomen, black, or latino/latina. Many were also sex-workers and living on the streets. We must remember that oppressions cannot be separated out. These deaths are indicative of other hateful trends in our culture—violence against people of color; violence against women; violence against those involved in sex work; violence against those in lower socioeconomic statuses.
Over the last decade, one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. It is estimated that today in America a person perceived to be transgender has a one in twelve chance of being murdered, whereas a non-transgender person (also known as a cisgender person) has a one in eighteen-thousand chance of being murdered. These trends show no signs of abating.
George Santayana once said “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Will we be willing to bear yet another century of violence and hatred aimed at those who do not so easily wear “man” or “woman?”
When you hear these names and stories here tonight, remember these people. Cry for those whom we have lost, and let your anger out for a society that would allow them to die.