Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance

I think tramgender people are some of the most brave folks walking on the Earth. When I think about how difficult it has been at times to be gay in our society, I imagine it would be 1.000 times harder for someone born in the wrong body.

I probably escaped a lot of beatings and harassment as a kid in Orange County because I was able to blend in fairly well and got even better at it in high school and college. I wasn’t particularly miserable about blending either, I was more relieved. But I was always a bit on edge.

A transgender person has no such choice and must either live a miserable existence by suppressing who they are or embracing themselves and face ridicule and far too often, violence.

Far too many people have lost their lives and far too few of their murderers have been caught. And when they are caught, most have used some kind of panic defense to get a lesser sentence is they are even convicted.

Today is a day to remember all of those who have died such unnecessary deaths.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester (pictured above), whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

According the event’s Website, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

Here is a video I hope you’ll take the time to watch:

My consciousness was raised four years ago when I did a story for The Advocate about transgender violence and how difficult it had been to get a jury to convict someone of murder in these cases.

But one case that was seen as a breakthrough was that of Gwen Araujo, a transgendered teenager who died during or shortly after an attack by multiple individuals. Two men were convicted of second-degree murder and each sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after a California jury refused to buy their “transgender panic” defense that they killed the teen in October 2002 due to the shock of discovering that she was biologically male. While the convictions did not include the first-degree murder or hate-crime enhancement charges sought by the prosecution, the verdicts are still seen as a victory because a murder conviction was obtained.

What made the Araujo case particularly noteworthy was the activism undertaken by her family members, who openly discussed the murder and spoke of their deep love for Gwen and their determination to obtain justice.

“The Araujo family has been phenomenal in stepping up to the plate and putting a face on this,” said Vanessa Edwards Foster, chairwoman of the board of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition. said then. “Having the family stand up and be such strong advocates, addressing these issues and bringing them to the public forum, has made a world of difference for us in the transgender and activist community. It’s very easy for people to objectify  a transgender person, but when a family stands up and says, ‘This is my child,’ that catches someone’s ear.”

Far too many transgender murder victims don’t have that and are quickly forgotten. Today is a day to remember Gwen, Rita and all the rest.

PS: The first hate crime conviction was obtained in April when Colorado man Allen Andrade was convicted of first-degree murder and a bias-motivated crime and sentenced to life in prison for killing transgender teen Angie Zapata who he met on an online social networking site.

It was the first time in the nation that a state hate crime statute resulted in a conviction in a transgender person’s murder.