TDOR
Friday, November 20th, 2009Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
It is always upsetting to take stock annually of the number who have died for being in some way gender variant, and the community is reeling from the shocking and gruesome murder of George Steven Lopez Mercado in Puerto Rico.
Yet, in 2009, I find reason to celebrate, too. We have finally passed a nationwide hate crime act that recognizes gender identity and sexual orientation in the prosecution of bias motivated crimes.
The list isn’t any shorter (117 transgender or gender-variant people were killed this year), and violence directed at transgender or gender-variant people is a global problem, but one can hope that we’ve turned a corner. That these deaths and this violence will not remain invisible. That we move toward a better world.
For the New Yorkers who haven’t already overbooked themselves like I have this evening, events in Brooklyn and Manhattan:
| Manhattan | Brooklyn |
| Friday, November 20, 2009 6:00-9:00pm The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center 208 W 13th St New York, NY 10011 Contact: Cristina Herrera at 646.556.9300 ext. 273 Website: www.gaycenter.org/node/4140 Facebook: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159032400889 |
Friday, November 20th, 2009 6pm-8pm Trans Day of Remembrance Audre Lorde Project 85 South Oxford Street Brooklyn N.Y. 11217 Directions: C train to Lafayette Avenue; G train to Fulton Street; 2, 3, 4, 5, B, Q, D, M, N, R to Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street For more information: mvazquez@alp.org |
Wow, that’s a high number. I wonder how prevalent that is up here. You never hear about it. I work with a transgender person. I don’t know when she changed as I hadn’t seen her in about a year until I started in my new position. The fear of and anger towards people who are “different” seems so stupid to me. It might have been useful when we lived in trees but hey, I think we’re past that people, move on.