Today is the 18th Transgender Day of Remembrance, in which we memorialize the people we lost due to anti-trans violence. here in the US and around the world.
This year's TDOR observance is coming upon the heels of a contentious national election in which an unqualified moron who told racist white people what they wanted to hear basically got himself elected to the presidency of this nation.
That election has consequences for the country, and unfortunately our community and its fragile human rights will be the first in the crosshairs of this undemocratic regime that is Making America Hate Again and ramping up anti-trans animus for political gain.
Unfortunately, that anti-trans animus has resulted in the untimely loss of trans lives, with the vast majority of them being trans people of color.
Jazz Alford, 30 years old
Amos Beede, 38 years old
Keyonna Blakeney, 22 years old
Brandi Bledsoe, 32 years old
Veronica Banks Cano, 30s
Kayden Clarke, 24 years old
Goddess Diamond, 20 years old
Deeniquia Dodds, 22 years old
Shante Isaac, 34 years old
Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson, 16 years old
Monica Loera, 43 years old
Skye Mockabee, 26 years old
Noony Norwood, 30 years old
T. T. Saffore, 20s
Jasmine Sierra, 52 years old
Demarkis Stansberry, 30 years old
Mercedes Successful, 32 years old
Rae'lynn Thomas, 28 years old
Erykah Tijerina, 36 years old
Tyreece "Reecey" Walker, 32 years old
Dee Whigham, 25 years old
Quartney Davia Dawsonn-Yochum, 32 years old
Maya Young, 24 years old
Say their names tonight and from now on. The majority of the American trans people whose names we will say and light a candle for tonight as part of our regrettable contribution to the international list of trans souls lost are Black and Latina.
When will their Black Lives Matter, Black community? When will these Latina lives matter to you, Latinx community?
When will trans lives matter to this nation, period?
Once this day is over, it's nation time trans Americans and allies.. The transphobic bigots are compiling unjust legislation to oppress us that we must fight with every fiber of our beings. We are going to have to come together as never before and fight the evil that wants to eviscerate our existence.
We unfortunately have some vanillacentric privileged people in our own ranks who fell for the Trump okey doke and conveniently forgot that theirs and the community's humanity was on the ballot November 8. They gleefully voted for the guy with an openly transphobic vice president thinking that their lost white privilege and their wallets were more important than the human rights of the entire trans community, and their white skin would protect them from harm.
They are about to find out it won't. They failed us, and more importantly, failed our trans kids, who were depending on their trans elders to handle their electoral business and keep this unqualified man out of the Oval Office.
Today we mourn the people we lost. Tomorrow we prepare to do what we always do and fight for our very humanity. And yes, we will win. Yeah I know I said that in 2007, but I believe it, and I'm going to speak it into existence today. We have the moral high ground, our haters don't no matter how much Biblical scripture the radicalized faith based haters try to throw.
Transgender rights are human rights. and we will have legislators on Capitol Hill and across the country willing to do the right thing and stand up for us. We will have trans parents standing with us and their kids. We also have history to peruse that gives us insight on how to fight the hateful evil that has once again befallen this country and we are squarely in the crosshairs of.
Our vision of our community and a fair and just America is worth fighting for.
As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr once said, we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. The progress that we have made gives me hope that we will get through this.
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