Trans Awareness Week 2015

With the official November 20 TDOR day rapidly approaching this Friday and events being held around the country and the world to remember the people we have lost to anti-trans violence, we in Trans World have begun to use the days in the runup to TDOR, now that we have the media's attention. as an opportunity to educate and inform people about the issues that affect trans people besides the horrific levels of violence predominately affecting young non-white trans women.

Whether the projects come from advocacy organizations like GLAAD and their trans microaggressions photo project they launched today, or trans oriented grassroots projects, videos. interviews and panel discussions around the country that won't get much media attention, these are just some of the things done during Trans Awareness Week.



In Washington DC last Friday night the DC Trans Coalition released their survey four years in the making entitled Access Denied: Washington DC Trans Needs Assessment Report they released that paints a grim picture for trans people residing in our nation's capital.   Tomorrow in Washington DC a congressional Violence Against Trans People forum sponsored by the House Equality Caucus is slated to take place.

On the West Coast that same night at the just concluded San Francisco Trans Film Festival, the MAJOR! documentary was shown for the first time to a sellout crowd at the Castro Theatre.

I'm taking part in two TDOR events this week in Houston.   One will be a Wednesday TDOR organized by Dee Dee Watters and sponsored by the radically inclusive Progressive Open Door Christian Center   It will take place on the TSU campus at St. Luke The Evangelist Church.  Address is 3530 Wheeler St.

Thursday evening from 5:30-7 PM at HCC-Southeast, I and Lou Weaver will be along with Dr. Ilija Immanuel Gallego taking part in another TDOR event sponsored by the Black Student Association, Women and Gender Studies Program, Counseling Center, and Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

It will take place at the Angela Morales Building - Lecture Hall, and the address is 6815 Rustic Street 

These local examples are just some of the ways around the country and the world that Trans Awareness Week has become the trans community's moment to discuss our lives, take a hard introspective look at ourselves with initiatives like the Elizabeth Rivera created #StopTheShade campaign, hold trans themed events and talk about the issues that affect our lives.

It also gives us an opportunity to examine ways we can educate people about us trans peeps, build better coalitions to advance trans human rights here and around the globe. and most importantly, drive home the point that trans people's lives and our humanity matters.

Happy Trans Awareness Week 2015!

The TDOR 2015 Names List

Next Friday will be the Transgender Day of Remembrance.  It started with a 1999 candlelight vigil in San Francisco organized by Gwen Smith to call attention to the still unsolved murder of Boston's Rita Hester that occurred on November 28, 1998 and the unacceptable media misgendering that happened in the wake of it.  What infuriated transpeople at the time was that much of that media misgendering happened in a gay owned newspaper.

We were also beginning to forget the names and details of many of the trans people who had been murdered pre-TDOR, and the Remembering Our Dead web project was started to preserve that history and ensure we didn't allow the memories of the dead to fade.

The 2015 TDOR list of names of our fallen sisters has been compiled with sadly 22 of them from the United States. Sadly Brazil once again leads the pack in being the deadliest place on Earth to be a trans person.  The youngest person on this 2015 TDOR list of names is just 13 years old.

Ever since that initial TDOR event, it has spread around the United States and the world to become a memorial event in which we pay homage to and remember the trans persons killed from November 21 of the previous year to November 20.

Once again, it's time for us to remember those who we have lost, and resolve to do whatever we can to increase understanding and acceptance of trans people in society to the point that the TDOR is no longer necessary.

But we are a long way from making that ultimate goal happen.

Upcoming 20th Anniversary Of Chanelle Pickett's Murder

I'm going to be speaking at back to back Transgender Day Of Remembrance events here in Houston on November 18 and 19.   One will be the TDOR event Dee Dee Watters is organizing for Progressive Open Door Christian Center. The next day I'm the keynote speaker for a TDOR event that will take place on the HCC-Southeast campus.

I'll pass along the details for both events as I get them.

While pulling up some TDOR research material in preparation for compiling that HCC keynote speech and my commentary for the PODCC TDOR, I noted that November 20 will be the 20th anniversary of the murder of 23 year old Chanelle Pickett at the hands of William Palmer in Boston.

Palmer basically got time served for killing Chanelle, a travesty of justice that royally pissed me and many trans people and advocates at the time off.  

Because Chanelle's murder happened a year into my own transition, like Tyra Hunter she is constantly in my thoughts because both of them were not only Black girls like me, they were both so young when it happened.  Like Tyra, I wonder how Chanelle's life would have turned out if she were still alive along with her identical twin sister Gabrielle and walking this planet as a 43 year old trans woman.




Ironic that the November 20 date she was taken away from us is one in which trans people and our allies around the world have set as the day to remember the trans people who were murdered in that particular year.  While the US has contributed 22 names to that depressing list, transphobic hatred has contributed to the murder of trans women around the world with the youngest being just 13 years old.

And the Remembering Our Dead list is getting longer, not shorter.

Rest in power Chanelle.  We will not only not allow the memories of your too brief life to fade, we'll do everything possible to make life better for all trans people.

We The People WH Trans Flag Colors For TDOR 2015 Petition

As we recently discovered when the wingers freaked out over the White House being lit in the rainbow flag colors on June 26 to celebrate the SCOTUS marriage equality ruling, the White House is lit up for special occasions. 

It is lit in pink for breast cancer awareness and the fountains are dyed green for St Patrick's Day.

A We The People petition has been created seeking to get the White House lit up in the pink, blue and white colors of the trans pride flag for the Transgender Day Of Remembrance on November 20.

***

We petition the Obama administration to:

Light the White House in the transgender pride flag colors on November 20th, the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Annually the White House is lit up pink to support breast cancer awareness. The fountains have been dyed green for St. Patrick's Day. On Friday June 26th the White House was lit up in the LGBT Pride flag colors to celebrate the historic victory of national marriage rights for the community. Trans people were among the many who celebrated this reaction by the White House.

Trans people however still face many unique obstacles to participating fully in the American dream.

Since its inception in 1999, the Transgender Day of Remembrance has grown from a national to an international event.

Beyond a historic first, the powerful symbolism of having the White House lit in the colors of the Transgender Pride flag on that date would be a significant event.

Published Date: Jul 06, 2015

***

I like this idea, hence the signal boosting post for it. 

In order to get an official response from the White House concerning this petition, we need to gather 100,000 signatures before August 5, and yes the TransGriot has already signed it as the eleventh person to do so.

I'm asking you trans peeps and allies to sign it and share it with your influence network so we can exceed that 100K signature requirement before the deadline.  Here's the link to do so.
 

Let's do this and honor our fallen trans folks with something extra special during this year's TDOR commemorations by getting the Obama Administration to light up the White House in the trans flag colors.

Should We Count Silicone Pumping Deaths In TDOR Stats?

Back on February 20 I was in a discussion with another activist about the number of people we have lost to anti trans violence.   When she started listing the number of people who have died so far this year, she included someone who died because of a fatal silicone pumping incident.

That started a debate between the both of us in regards to whether people who die from silicone pumping should be recognized at a TDOR event.

I argued NO, and here are my reasons why.. 

The reason the TDOR was founded by Gwen Smith in the first place back in 1999 was because we had an epidemic at the time of trans murders, no or blatantly transphobic and crappy coverage even from gay media about it, and we trans peeps were starting to forget the names of the deceased that dated back to the 70's.

That's why the TDOR was created.  To memorialize the dead, ensure we didn't forget those people who were violently taken from us  basically because they were living their trans lives, begin building a historical record that it was happening, create an event that would attract media coverage about the issue and give our allies a way to support us.

The event quickly went international because we live on all inhabited continents on this planet and anti-trans hate and violence is an international human rights issue.

While silicone pumping and the cis and trans people who die from it is a problematic issue that I have covered on these electronic pages since  2006, the fact remains that unlike a murder, the person who dies from silicone pumping, knows the potential risks of pumping, knows that people have died because of it, but still chose to do so.

The pumper may be charged with murder or a crime after the fact, but the pumper isn't forcing that person against their will to plunk down the money to undergo a procedure that they may not survive.

Silicone pumping deaths, like suicides, also generate their own media publicity, unlike trans murders.

A silicone pumping death shouldn't be elevated to TDOR list recognition.  Just as with suicide deaths, they are a separate category from trans people being murdered for who they are, and it is what the Transgender Day of Remembrance needs to continue to focus on.

The TDOR does not need to 'evolve' as I was told in that conversation I had with this particular activist, it is executing what it was designed to do. 

So why mess with the success of the TDOR or attempt to alter its Prime Directive?

So no, silicone pumping deaths do not need to be counted in TDOR stats, nor should they be recognized at a TDOR event now or into the future.

TDOR 2014 Musings

TransGriot Note: A TDOR post I composed for the Task Force blog

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which was conceived by Gwen Smith in response to the misgendering in gay and straight Boston media to the November 28, 1998 murder of of African-American trans woman Rita Hester.

As of this writing, Hester's killer has yet to be apprehended, and Smith organized a vigil that happened in San Francisco and Boston in 1999, and it didn't take long for the TDOR to go national and eventually international    

This TDOR 2014 finds me as one of the people still around that noted when the initial TDOR started in 1999 and has participated in TDOR events in Long Island, NY, Louisville, San Antonio, and Houston to reflect upon how this event has grown over the past 15 years.   

The TDOR is a time that remember our lost trans brothers and trans sisters that were tragically taken away from us from November 21 of the previous calendar year to November 20 of this year.  

One of the things that really angered me this year in addition to the 11 trans people we lost in the United States and all of them were trans women of color.  One  one of our lost sisters was just 8 years old.   Many of our fallen sisters predominately POC's under age 40, and Brazil continues to be unfortunately the world leader in trans murders.

But shifting back to the TDOR. it is an opportunity for the trans community to raise awareness that we exist and these murders are happening.  It gives us an opportunity to partner with our allies, community build, grieve for our dead, and steel ourselves for the ongoing task to ensure that we do the necessary work to make the TDOR's unnecessary.   Many locales also wrap trans educational events around the TDOR memorials.   Some are sponsored by churches, or take place on college campuses.

The work that we need to do to create that better world that will hopefully make TDOR's unnecessary is to educate people about trans lives.   We advocate for trans human rights protective laws at the local, state and federal level to drive home the message that we are part of this community, too.

We agitate for effective policing when our people are murdered.   We push for swift capture of the perpetrators of anti-trans violence, and when they are captured by law enforcement, stiff punishments while educating the law enforcement community how to respectfully treat deceased and living trans people  We also insist from the media respectful treatment of our deceased brothers and sisaters as they comer these stories.  

TDOR's are not just for the dead and all the people who loved and treasure their memories.  They are more for the living/   The Transgender Day of Remembrance reminds us on one level that there but for the grace of God go us, and that we never forget the people whose lives were tragically take.   It also is a powerful exhortation to do all that we can in  conjunction with our allies to advance the human rights of the trans community at large and make a better world for ours and future generations of trans people.

Houston TDOR Service With Soul At The POD

Last night I was honored to be the keynote speaker for Progressive Open Door Community Church's and Trans Women Of Color United For Change's second annual Transgender Day of Remembrance service at the POD.

It was attended by 50 people last night, and the service organized by Dee Dee, who is an ordained deaconess in the POD, featured a predominately trans cast participating in the service along with allies.

The program was emceed by Makai Bowie, who is an ordained trans deacon at the POD, and in addition to my keynote, it featured an interpretive dance by Kay Crowel, remarks from ally P.K McCary on being an ally, Dee Dee Watters' play 'In The Eyes Of A Mother'  in which she portrayed a mother grappling with the loss of her murdered trans child, Tierra Ortiz-Rodriguez giving the prayer,  and ally Minister Marcia playing Amazing Grace on her violin and as the names were read by Roxanne Collins, Jude Fang, and Xavier Darden.  

Mother AJ Bowie represented the veterans, and she is also the mother of a trans child.

The service concluded with a benediction from Pastor Freedom Gulley, and an announcement that there will be a Transgender themed service at 12 PM Sunday at the POD featuring my Lone Star sis from Dallas, Rev. Carmarion Anderson.

For those of you in the Houston area wishing to check it out, the POD is located at 3530 Wheeler St on the expanding Texas Southern University campus. 

Houston TDOR 2014 Events

Like everywhere else on the planet, H-town and our TBLG community will be memorializing our fallen trans sisters with events scheduled around the official November 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Resurrection MCC is hosting the third of a series of four Wednesday events facilitated by Houston trans community educator and activist Lou Weaver entitled Transformations:  Honoring Trans Awareness Month

The previous panels took place on November 5 and 12, with the final one after today's event taking place on December 3.

The panels are being facilitated by Weaver, and this empowering series of workshops is in honor of Trans Awareness and Ally Month!

Joined by wonderful guest presenters and co- sponsored by such ground- breaking community organizations as TENT and Equality Texas, Lou will host this enriching series featuring trans storytelling, advocacy training, and community healing! We begin with Gender 101 and conclude the Wednesday following Transgender Day of Rememberance. Networking encouraged!

They will be in the Resurrection MCC Gathering Place starting at 7:00 PM, and the church is located at 2025 W. 11th St.  You can email RevKristen@ResurrectionMCC.org for further information.

Also happening tonight is a TDOR event organized by activist Dee Dee Watters at the Progressive Open Door Christian Church. 

The POD will celebrate the lives of our fallen transgender sisters and brothers. This night will include spoken word, poetry and much more followed by refreshments.

What is the Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR)?

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, an action that current media doesn’t perform.

Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

We'd love to see you and a friend there!

I'll be speaking at it, and the event starts at  7:00 PM.  The POD is located at 3530 Wheeler Street in the shadows of the Texas Southern University campus.  

Dee Dee Has also organized a Transgender Day of Resources event at the Montrose Center that will take place November 23 from 10:00 AM CST to 4:00 PM

Wanna get on Hormones (HRT)? Wanna get your Name Changed? Wanna get Plastic Surgery? Do you have questions about being transgender or gender non confirming? Join me at Transgender Day Of Resources & Healthy Living!

Free giveaways! Free Consultations! Free Screenings! Free Workshops! Please RSVP to get your Free lunch! RSVP is not required to attend the event and get free service this is for ALL Transgender Men, Transgender Women and Gender Non Confirming persons no matter one's race, age, financial status!

Here's the link see you there please tell all transgender and gender non confirming persons about this event its Free! Free! Free!
Please tell a friend!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transgender-day-of-resources-healthy-living-tickets-13981008573

And finally the HTUC TDOR event will take place on November 22 on the UH main campus.  It will be in the AD Bruce Religion Center starting at 7 PM

It kicks off with a reception and social gathering with refreshments provided by HRC Houston with the TDOR program following at 8 PM  with opening remarks, a choir performance, and scheduled speakers. Names, locations, and a short description of each trans-hate murder from the last year is then read.

Trans Lives Matter

We have had in the United States this year 11 trans murders since June.   That's too many, but pales in comparison to what our Brazilian sisters have endured this year.

Trans Lives Matter is the message undergirding all of the TDOR events taking place this week around the November 20 TDOR date.    We're sick and tired of the unemployment and underemployent.   We're  sick and tired of the disrespect coming from all direction from family members to the greater society.   We're beyond sick and tired of being harassed, assaulted and murdered for being who we are.

It's past time to #StopTransMurders here and abroad.   It's also past time for people to recognize that trans lives matter.   Trans lives are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.   Trans lives are just as worthy of existing on this planet as you cis people who arrogantly hate on us.

And another November 20 is here for us to send that message. 

2013 TDOR's Around The World

(TransGriot Note)  from 2013 TDOR in Myanmar.

The 2013 cycle of TDOR's came to a close around November 24, and the photos from those events are being posted in various spots around The Net.   While we can debate about whether the TDOR memorials are 'too somber', one thing that isn't up for discussion is that the 238 people who died due to anti-trans violence need to be remembered and there needs to be an end to the unacceptable levels of violence aimed at our people.

We also need to redouble our efforts toward bringing change in our various nations that gives them hope for the future and reduces the intolerably high suicide rates for transpeople to zero.  

Let's never forget the people who died this year and in previous years as we continue to work toward a world that will make the TDOR's obsolete.

Turkey




New York, NY, USA




Louisville, KY, USA



Rome, Italy



Manchester, UK



Dallas, TX, USA 

Celebrating Transgender Day Of Remembrance In Malaysia?

Trans advocate Yuki Choe was the main speaker for the inaugural Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial event organized in Malaysia in 2008 by fellow activist Thilaga Sulathireh.   Choe has organized TDOR's in Malaysia following the principle that it is an international trans memorial service laid out by TDOR founder Gwen Smith from 2009-2012.

But this year's Malaysian TDOR event was problematic for her.  

Just like here in the United States, there have been some Malaysian transpeople who have complained the TDOR's are 'too somber' and need to be 'more festive'.  I've commented on that irritating 'more festive TDOR' point more than a few times on TransGriot, and now Yuki Choe will have her opportunity to do the same.   

In this guest post, Choe makes the case that the organizers of the 2013 TDOR event in her nation went too far in that festive direction.  By doing so, they disrespected the memory of not only the local Malaysian trans women who were killed this year like Dicky Othman, but all the people around the world we lost due to anti-trans violence. 

TransGriot Update 4 December 2013:  Well well, seems like somebody in Malaysia was pissed off about Yuki's guest post spotlighting the jacked up TDOR they had.   They complained and got the pics of their disrespectful TDOR event removed from this blog post.   

But that's okay, still doesn't change the fact that people around the world already saw them and are talking about how you disrespected the memory of Dicky Othman and other trans women who lost their lives around the world this year to anti-trans violence with your travesty of a TDOR. 

And because you pissed me the hell off with that nekulturny move, you're officially on my bad side and Yuki Choe has an open invitation to guest post here anytime she wishes.   

And now, here's Yuki

***

Imagine this scenario. In an unknown state, there was a year-long mass murder happening. 238 people were reported dead, while countless others were missing. The local church decided to start a memorial on the 20th of November, where they announced each of the 238 known names of the dead, along with a candlelight vigil, and begin discussions on how to stop the violent killings. Everyone, including the founder, decided it would be a day to remember the dead and the dead only.

Then someone decided to run the same event on a later date on the 29th of November, decided to invite some pretty girls to dance, gave out some awards to courageous councilmen who were nowhere to be found when the murders happen, promoted and raised funds for the group, and only mustered up 29 names out of the 238 who died.

You do not make a mockery out of your family’s funeral, memorial, wake, or whatever form to grief. Sadly, this happened recently in one country, Malaysia.

A week before the programme was announced, concerns were raised up to the fact that at a time of worldwide mourning for the dead of Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR), a group comprising of members from PT Foundation (a local AIDS prevention organization) and Justice For Sisters (a local trans group) decided to change the principles of TDOR and added several features that draws power away from the voices of our dead, which includes award ceremonies for three trans personalities, a drag queen dance performance and promotional efforts to aid Justice For Sisters.

One even acknowledged in social media that all the names of the dead from the TGEU Monitoring Project website will be announced during the candlelight vigil of the event.

In the end, when the event was held last Friday, two sources confirmed to me that only 29 were named, leaving 209 trans people thrown under the bus for the sake of self-promotion. Worse, one of their supporters who goes by the name Ineza claimed “it was empowering for everyone who attended”. 

Therein, lies the problem - you are not supposed to feel empowered during TDOR. You are supposed to be in grief, and seek solutions to aid recovery.

From a recent FaceBook discussion, this is not the first time TDOR became an event less focused on the dead; Peterson Toscano said, “ I have heard this happen elsewhere. There is such a need to face the hard tragic realities of violence against trans and gender non-conforming people. But not as just a memorial, but also as a time and place to commit to resist and work for justice and a better world. But TDOR is a somber event, a tragic, awful one and one that demands we feel the weight of it.”

But should there be room for people to revise TDOR into a less morbid event? Monica Roberts commented, “Since TDOR founder Gwen Smith is a friend, we stay in contact, and I was around in the community at the 1999 outset of the TDOR events.  They were always meant to be memorial services. What people have done over the last few years is to have other trans education events leading up to November 20. That's fine if you do trans themed panel discussions, trans themed movie nights, lectures, or community forums. 

But dances, drag shows and pageants? Not no but HELL no. You have 364 other days on the calendar to do those. November 20 should be a day where we remember our dead, use that day as an opportunity for our allies in the gay, lesbian, bi and straight communities to join us and build intersectional community links to build future political and cultural progress upon.”

This writer agrees that to add other elements such as award ceremonies and drag shows, or replacing the principles of TDOR especially removing a huge bulk of the names to be announced for convenience, tortures the soul of what makes TDOR such an important event, and it should not be defaced by promoting people and organizations of the living.

But could people be allowed to change TDOR, to perk it up so it would not be too sombre or for many, boring?

Some folks do bring alcoholic drinks and sexy girls to funerals to be jolly, so should TDOR be “celebrated” like it was this year in Malaysia?

Yuki Choe is a lone transsexual advocate and ex-gay survivor, organizing TDOR events in Malaysia from 2009-2012 and the main speaker for the first TDOR organized by activist Thilaga Sulathireh in 2008, following the TDOR guiding principles. There have been trans murders yearly in her country.

Stories from previous Malaysian TDORs:

2008: http://tiltedworld.org/2008/12/04/we-will-remember/
2009: http://www.exgaywatch.com/2009/11/malaysia-report-transgender-day-of-remembrance/

2010: http://www.fridae.asia/newsfeatures/printable.php?articleid=10461

2012: http://www.fridae.asia/newsfeatures/2012/12/11/12104.a-death-religion-and-the-transgender-day-of-remembrance

Two Texas TDOR's In 24 Hours

I'm usually pretty busy when November 20th approaches and it's time for the Transgender Day Of Remembrance memorial events to take place here and elsewhere around the world.   Between the radio interviews, op-ed posts and articles, panel discussions and keynote speech requests it can and does get hectic and potentially overwhelming for me during this and any TDOR period

But I had never tried to pull off participating in two TDOR events in the same cycle until this year.

I had gotten the invitation to come to the San Antonio TDOR when Lauryn Farris came to Houston for the Texas Transgender Non Discrimination Summit (TTNS) last summer.  I already knew Rev. Carmarion Anderson was their keynote speaker and it was scheduled for November 21, so no big deal.   I always enjoy spending quality time around her and definitely wanted to be there to see her speak. 

I was planning at the time to just go, chill and be in the San Antonio TDOR audience watching Carmarion and keeping my butt in the background.  I wanted to let others get their well deserved recognition and attention.    
But when Dee Dee Watters approached me in early October about participating in the first ever African-American trans organized TDOR event in Houston, I wanted to be part of that historic event but I was already committed to being in San Antonio on November 21 for their TDOR.  I'd also backed it up by as soon as the booking window opened up for it by purchasing the round trip Megabus ticket (for $2.50) to San Antonio.  

No TransGriot readers, that's not a typo.  I got that San Antonio Megabus roundtrip for $2.50. It got even more interesting when Lauryn asked me to take a more active role in their TDOR since I was already headed there and speak at their event. 

Dee Dee wasn't giving up either. She asked me again to participate in the TDOR she was planning, and once I found out she'd scheduled the Houston African-American TDOR event for November 20, it set up the interesting situation for me of literally participating in two Texas TDOR's 24 hours apart on opposite ends of I-10.

Part one of this two TDOR's in 24 hours scenario started on Wednesday night as I approached St. Luke the Evangelist Episcopal Church in the shadows of the Texas Southern University campus.

It was a perfect venue for this first ever African-American trans organized TDOR event.  For a first time TDOR it drew 40 people which I was extremely pleased about.  I had a role in it as a reader, but the major credit for pulling this off goes to Dee Dee Watters who organized it.

Dee Dee also had as part of the program a monologue she performed along with the musicians, poetry readings, spoken word and commentary that comprised the programming for this inaugural event.

I've already been told this African-American organized TDOR is going to happen next year and hope people in the Houston African-American trans community and our allies come out in even larger numbers next year to support it because frankly, they need to.   

The next morning I was up bright and early to catch my 8:15 AM Megabus heading west on I-10 to San Antonio to attend and take part in their TDOR for the first time.   My homegirl Rev. Carmarion Anderson was coming down I-35 to be the keynote speaker for this year's event and I would get to close out the programming part of it as the final speaker of the evening, behind her and legendary local activist Graciela Sanchez.. 

I spent an enjoyable day after I arrived with Lauryn Farris and Carmarion before we headed over to the MCC San Antonio church to handle out TDOR business San Antonio style.

I was surprised to see the globetrotting Cristan Williams there, who had literally just come back from the Left Coast after leading a protest against the transphobic hatemongers of the Pacific Justice Institute and drove to the Alamo City for their event.   I was also happy to finally meet another member of the 'Can We Talk For Real' radio team in Ina Anthony, who spent the event seated next to me.

The interesting thing about the San Antonio TDOR event is they start with the reading of the names, then go into their programming.   So after the reading of the names of the departed, the tribute to the beloved on both ends of I-10 late Michelle Myers (which was why Cristan was there to represent herself and the Houston community), Carmarion's rousing keynote and Graciela's equally moving speech, I had to close it out. 

I got to discuss moving forward past this day, and I focused on politics and what we needed to do as a community after we left that church.   It was a well received speech as I discovered during the reception afterwards which I was happy about.  



I also got to meet with many people in the San Antonio trans and LGB community, allies, activists and politicians.  One interesting situation occurred in which I was talking to a woman who has a trans child.  While we were in the middle of that conversation a member of the local PFLAG chapter took the opportunity to introduce herself to me.  I took that moment and introduced her to the mother of the trans child.  That jump started a conversation about what she needed to know between the two and connected the mom to San Antonio PFLAG.  

I also had a serious chat with San Antonio city councilmember Diego Bernal.  I thanked him for his support of our community and his YES votes during their recent contentious non-discrimination ordinance fight.  
He gave me a message to take back to the peeps here in Houston, since we're about to embark on our own what promises to be contentious non-discrimination ordinance fight.    

And sorry, that message Councilmember Bernal asked me to pass on to my Houston peeps is in 'the trans revolution will not be televised or written about' territory.   Some things have to stay secret in order for them to become a reality.`   And yeah, I'm quite aware of the possibility that our loud and wrong enemies read this blog, too.

The temperature dropped 30 degrees after a cold front blew through town around 3 AM and fortunately I packed a long sleeved turtleneck shirt in my bag for the trip home.  I dozed off after we passed Seguin and after I awakened from my nap around Columbus got a chance to talk to San Antonio resident Mary Lozano.  When she discovered I had just spoken at the SATDOR, she asked me why there was such hateful rhetoric thrown around in that ordinance fight by alleged Christians because the anti-TBLG rhetoric bothered her as a Christian who lives her faith.

Since we had a hour until we arrived in Houston, I had enough time to do an impromptu Trans 101 and make a friend. I have her number and definitely will be staying in touch with her.

So now that this TDOR season is over, time to rest, reflect and recharge the batteries for the battles ahead and in the new year.  Sadly enough we may already have the first name for the 2014 TDOR list in the person of Jacqui Cowdrey. 

And I may need to consider going to the Dallas TDOR next year.  

Zoe's 2013 Cleveland TDOR Speech

Cleveland's TDOR memorial ceremony had the added sorrow of remembering one of their own this year in the person of Cemia 'CeCe' Dove Acoff.
  
In addition to mourning her death when the news broke of it back in March, the Cleveland trans community then had to deal with their paper of record in the Cleveland Plain Dealer subsequently committing a journalistic hate crime against Cemia by grossly disrespecting her.

When people complained about it including me, instead of listening to what people from the community were pointing out and correcting their mistakes, the Plain Dealer took the opposite combative path and defiantly doubled down on the transphobic disrespect aimed at Cemia.

Andrey Bridges, the waste of DNA who committed the senseless crime was quickly arrested, subsequently convicted of murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.   He will be serving a life sentence for it. 

There was even resolution between the Cleveland TBLG community and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  After a letter was submitted requesting they cover the TDOR and do so with honesty and respect, the Plain Dealer agreed to not only cover the local TDOR , but meet with area activists to ensure that such grossly disrespectful coverage of a trans person never happens again. 

During their 2013 Cleveland TDOR, Zoe Renee Lapin, who organized one of the rallies held for Cemia  during that time person spoke to the assembled people at the memorial service. 

Here's her speech.

***

Realness isn't seen in your physical beauty but it's revealed through your heart. It isn't your ability to use one hand to give yourself a pat on the back and use the other to hold down others going through the same journey. It is your ability to look beyond the surfaces and empower your community. To be the greatest you that YOU can be, and then when you do that, do it again-but even better. The reality that your work is never over. The reality that this list gets longer and longer every year and yet the respect grows smaller and smaller.

Realness is realizing that "oddly dressed man found in pond" or "brutal murder marks the end of the fight for acceptance" is not appropriate, not ever. That until all of us are accepted and respected, we are all destroyed and neglected. That every "he, him, his, sir" that a transwoman gets is a direct attack to all of us. That every "her, ms, she, ma'am" that a transman gets is a direct attack to all of us. That every "it and thing" that a non-identifying person gets is a direct attack to all of us. Every drop of blood spilled, every tear shed, cannot exist in vain. That the time for silence is over and that the time for action has never been more prevalent.

My reality is that I am beautiful, my reality is that you are beautiful, our reality is that we are beautiful. And that when we come together in the name of equality, in the name of respect, in the name of our fallen-our cries will not fall upon closed minds and empty hearts. Realness is our ability to empower and encourage everyone from the young person living in the streets because they were forced out of their homes for manifesting their reality, to our elders, to everyone along the way.

Realness is if one of us makes noise, we all make noise, if one of us falls, we all have fallen. Realness is leaving none of us behind, in life and in death. The deceased before us have paid the price for their truth. The living in front of them must never forget them, we carry their names in our hearts and their vindication through our actions. Realness is realizing that Islan, Ce Ce, Ashley, Kelly, the unmentioned and the unknown, cannot continue to live their truths because of the ignorance and fear that propelled so many of their lives to a tragic halt. Realness is healing our wounds and healing the wounds of those around us. Realness is knowing that many in the outside world, even within our own community do not care about us. That we are a threat to their vision of equality, that we are a "burden" that they do not wish to bear.

As much as the term gay isn't a modifier of the entire lgbtq population, the slurs that some see endearing are not signs for our acceptance and validation. That the blood that landed on our footsteps is met with silence, but the bruises met on another are somehow unequal. That in Cleveland, we care more about pandering than we do the pandemic of inequality many of us face everyday. That we are told to all stand up for one cause, but have a seat for another. Your time will come, just wait. Wait...

Realness is the fact that the time is up. That our community cannot afford one more loss. That our family will not fall victim to your hand nor your words. That we ARE family. We are not in competition with each other. We must remain in harmony with one another. Our journeys may not be the same, but we are all in this race together. Our histories, our realities could not have made us any further apart-but I feel so close to each and every single one of you. Our realness, together, is our realness, together. We are our truth, we have manifested our reality. We are united, we embody those fallen and we shape the road ahead, and when we fall together-we rise together.

Diamond Stylz's TDOR 2013 Message

My Houston homegirl Diamond Stylz is my counterpart in the video blogging world, and peeps need to recognize that she's all that and five bags of mesquite barbecue chips if they haven't already.

Here's Diamond's commentary concerning the 2013 edition of the Transgender Day of Remembrance that needs to be seen

First Ever Houston Black Trans Organized TDOR Event Tomorrow

Dee Dee Watters noticed what other people (myself included) in the community had in terms of many of the fallen trans people being memorialized at TDOR events being Black and Latina and the TDOR memorial services not doing a good enough job reflecting the diversity of the community.

She believed it was past time for the Houston African-American trans community to hold a Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial event of its own to honor our fallen sisters and got busy making it happen.

Dee Dee's efforts to make that event become a reality received a major boost when the radically inclusive Progressive Open Door Christian Center, which ministers to a predominately African-American TBLG congregation agreed and offered their church sanctuary for the TDOR event Watters was organizing.  .

The result is tomorrow night at 7 PM CST a little Texas trans history being made inside Loop 610 as the first ever African-American trans organized TDOR event in Houston kicks off near the Texas Southern University campus .

Progressive Open Door Christian Center holds its services in the St Luke The Evangelist Episcopal Church just east of the TSU campus at 3530 Wheeler Avenue and Sampson Streets.

After the conclusion of the TDOR memorial service at 9 PM, there will be a panel discussion with trans community members discussing their lives, their struggles and answering questions about the 'T' end of' the TBLG community.

All are welcomed to attend this first ever event, and the TransGriot will be in the house for this TDOR memorial.  Hope to see you there.

238 Names

Once again trans* people all over the world and our allies are gathering at Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial events to solemnly remember the people we lost to anti- trans violence since we last tearfully gathered to do so. 

In addition to this being the 15th anniversary of the Transgender Day of Remembrance memorials that were conceptualized by Gwendolyn Smith in the wake of Rita Hester’s murder, we will be marking on November 20 it being one year since trans teen Sage Smith disappeared after departing her home to meet someone at the Charlottesville, VA Amtrak station. 

This year we’ll be reading 238 predominately Black and Latina names as we gather in our TDOR venues, light candles, say our prayers, give our speeches, and decompress from grieving about the people we’ve lost after these worldwide15th anniversary Transgender Day of Remembrance memorials conclude. 

And we’re fed up with doing so.

We’re fed up with reading the names of so many young trans* women and sadly a few trans* men this year who will never get to experience another birthday.   Far too many of them who were killed this year were under the age of 35.

We’re fed up with contemplating the disturbing fact some of the names we’ll be reading during these TDOR memorials hadn’t even made it to age 21 yet.

We’re fed up in the African-American and Latin@ trans* communities of far too many of our people dying and our politicians, clergy and media pundits being cricket chirping silent about it.

We’re fed up with legislative inaction on the human rights laws it’s painfully obvious trans* people need at the local, state and federal levels as a wide range of people from trans exclusionary radical feminists to right-wing politicians gleefully spread disinformation and lies to roll back or retard our progress.

We’re fed up with our people dying and our people choosing suicide over life because you transphobic cisgender haters have made it so hostile and uncomfortable for them to live.

But sadly we’ll probably be gathering next November 20 at locations around the globe to read another 200 plus names of people killed because of anti-transgender violence.

And we’ll gather because for the sake of the people who died trying to living their lives as their authentic selves, we must.   

As one of the lines in the 1955 South African Freedom Charter states, ‘Our struggle is also a struggle of memory against forgetting.”

We cannot allow ourselves as a community to forget how and why these 238 people and the ones who have preceded them over the last fifteen years of organized TDOR memorials died. 

We cannot allow ourselves to forget that trans* rights are a human rights issue not just in this nation but around the world.  We must do whatever it takes to ensure that trans* people here and around the world can live their lives free of fear and wrap themselves in the security blanket of freedom and justice. 

We also cannot forget the price that was paid in the blood of our fallen trans* sisters and trans* brothers.  Their lives mattered then, their lives mattered to the people who loved them unconditionally and their lives matter to us who mourn their passing.

We as their trans* brothers and sisters and our allies also cannot forget that it is up to us to ensure that the 238 trans” people who died this year and memorialize on this day did not do so in vain. 

Yes, the moral arc of the universe is bending toward justice for trans* people but the people who died will sadly not experience the unbridled joy of that inevitable day. 

TDOR exists to remind us that it’s time for us to remember our dead, pull together as a community and comfort each other.  It is a memorial day, and if you think it’s ‘too somber’, too bad.  There are 364 other days on the calendar for you to do your partying and November 20 or the TDOR will never be an appropriate time for you to do so.  

As we work to eradicate anti-trans violence causing these senseless murders and waste of human life and potential, we remember our dead, wipe away our tears, and dry our weeping eyes.  We replace sadness and grief with a steely resolve to work for that sunny day of freedom and justice for all trans* people and make the TDOR’s obsolete.

And we want to make that day happen as expeditiously as possible

Carter Brown Challenges Black Leaders To Stand Up For Trans Community

The TDOR Unite! online ceremony was last night, and one of the videos that stood out for me was Black Transmen founder/CEO Carter Brown challenging the Black community leadership to speak out and stand up for the Black trans community.

Moni's Busy TDOR 2013 Week

The 15th annual observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance officially happens on November 20, but the trend over the last few years has been to build informational programs around the observance of the day especially if that date doesn't fall on a weekend. 

With the official TDOR date falling on Wednesday this year, that has been the case with many locales having events starting last week and continuing through this Sunday.

Because of my status in Trans World, I do get the honor and privilege of being invited from time to time to take part in a wide variety of TDOR events including keynote speeches.  

The arrival of TDOR 2013 means as usual I'm going to be a little busy during this runup to November 20.  

I have a TDOR themed article I'm writing that's due Tuesday.  I woke up this morning to do a radio interview on Canadian radio station CHRW 94.9 FM that I'll post to the blog when it's available.  There's a local TDOR event in Houston I'm participating in near the TSU campus that starts at 7 PM on Wednesday, then I  get up early to travel to San Antonio for a TDOR event in San Antonio I'm speaking at Thursday evening . 

So if I'm going to see The Best Man Holiday this week, better be an early morning matinee.

TDOR Unite! Online TDOR Ceremony Tomorrow

The official Transgender Day Of Remembrance observance happens on Wednesday, but tomorrow starting at at 9 PM Eastern / 8 PM Central / 7 PM Mountain / 6 PM Pacific time (US) the first annual online Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial service will take place.

The theme this year is Our Lives Are Valuable and the goals of this service are to remember the lives we lost to anti-trans violence this past year, comfort and support each other and affirm that our lives as trans human beings are valuable.

The event was created by the TDOR Unite! coalition and hosted by the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a Unitarian Universalist congregation without walls, in partnership with Standing on the Side of Love.

The groundbreaking livestreaming event will also be available to those of you who have mobile devices as well.  www.livestream.com/questformeaning

Mobile devices link:
www.livestream.com/questformeaning2

The Opening Invocation for the online TDOR event will be by Lynn Young with reflections offered by Ignacio Rivera, Carter Brown, Pauline Park, and Bamby Salcedo

The Artistic Expressions during this first annual event will be provided by KOKUMO, Tona Brown, Arjuna Greist, Christian Axavier Lovehall, Cherno Biko, Monica Stevens Yorkman, and others.

So mark your calendars and check out this first annual online event tomorrow in your time zone.
  

Transgender Awareness Week Is EVERY Week On TransGriot

Because there are folks in the trans community who believe the Transgender Dy of Remembrance memorial ceremonies are in their words 'too somber', there has been movement over the last few years in several cities that host these TDOR events to host a week of events in the run up to November 20 to educate the cisgender community about our issues, concerns and expose them to our trans world.

Those efforts have led to Transgender Awareness Week. 

The Transgender Awareness Week events can range from trans themed movie nights, lectures, panel discussions, speeches by trans community leaders and elders and debates. 

But why just limit those education and enlightenment efforts to just the week before a TDOR or college campuses?   They can be held at community centers, friendly churches and any venue or room big enough to host them.  

The media that covers us definitely needs that trans 'ejumacation'.  So does law enforcement, the clergy, the legal profession and even our SGL and bi allies.

I submit those trans education efforts are becoming more important because the right wingers are shifting tactics and coming after the trans community with their patented fear, smear and lie tactics.

Yes, those futile efforts to halt the momentum of trans human rights here and around the world will fail, but we will need to do our part to ensure that happens.   One part of that education battle is to do these Transgender Awareness Weeks not only during TDOR, but ensure they happen everyday and everywhere.

Far too many of our own trans people and our allies allies are unaware of our proud history, the trans community's iconic leaders, our trailblazers like Sylvia Rivera and countless others, and the role we transpeople have played in advancing human rights for all people including our own community while fighting a pitched battle to have our own humanity respected and protected.  

Some of those people we know their names, while there are others who fought battles and then faded from the pages of history and we will never know their names, but their contributions were just as valid to enable us to move the trans human rights drive forward to that inevitable civil rights touchdown we will score.  

And yes, I'm proud to have played a role in getting that information and history out there, especially about my own trams community of color.  

I'm also not forgetting about our international trans peeps like Audrey Mbugua, Naomi Fontanos and Victor Mukasa just to name a few who are doing their part to advance the knowledge of trans people and their human rights in their own locales.

Sometimes those trans folks stepping up to lead in other nations are doing so at great risk to their own lives or have sacrificed them to do so like Cynthia Nicole Moreno in Honduras and Agnes Torres Hernandez in Mexico.

I have every intention of continuing to drive home the point that trans rights are an international human rights issue, and will continue to say it as loudly as I can as long as TransGriot exists.  

Transgender Awareness Week is EVERY week on this blog and always will be.