There is a vigil and community meeting taking place in Cleveland as I post this and I was asked to submit some remarks to be read at it.Here they are.
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To my Cleveland trans family, allies, family and friends of our fallen transsisters, and our supporters.
I wish I could be there at this moment to give you a comforting hug, help dry your tears, and stand in solidarity with you. But my words will have to be an inadequate substitute for my physical presence at this time.
On behalf of myself, the trans community of Texas, the national and international trans community, we wish to express our deepest condolences for the loss of two of our Cleveland sisters. We offer our prayers and express our hopes that the perpetrators of these foul deeds will be caught and justice in these cases will be swift, fair and expeditiously served.
Once again as you gather in Cleveland to mourn the senseless loss of two of our trans sisters, you do so in the wake of media misgendering and disrespect robbing one of them of the dignity and the personhood they fought so hard to establish in their lives.
The deceased deserved better. So do the transpeople who are in the area struggling to live their day to day lives. And once again one of our two departed sisters lives was snuffed out before she had a chance to fully live it.
When will this carnage stop? How many more trans lives have to be lost to anti-trans violence before the Cleveland community says enough and shows through deeds and words that the lives of ALL its citizens are valued?
If there is anything that needs to happen in the wake of these senseless deaths, it is that the time has come to embrace the Cleveland trans community and ensure they become loved and valued members of the community, not shunned and disrespected afterthoughts.
May the upcoming New Year see this happen for my transfamily in Cleveland and beyond its city limits.
Sincerely,
Your sister in the struggle
Monica Roberts
The TransGriot
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