Transgender Day of Remembrance 2009

Everyone,

November 20th is International Day of Transgender Remembrance. I wanted to show solidarity today and hopefully start collecting some links to add. I really tried to stay in all day but...yeah, what is this school you talk of?

In any case, I'll try to keep my thoughts proper short & to the point because this is actually only my second year being aware of this day, though I have been aware of transphobia & crimes against the transgender community for longer. I do not feel so eloquent expressing my sorrow and rage on why--not a QUESTION of why mind you--this continues to happen.

Consider the Memorial List here. Look at the pictures, the names. I look and I see real people and I feel despair--people murdered out of sheer intolerance and hate and fear difference. I think of families, friends. I wonder, will there come a day in this lifetime when we all finally embrace change, ACCEPT completely (not just "tolerate") and we'll look back and wonder, how could we be so cruel and spiteful towards our fellow human beings? Just because they don't conform to our ideas of "gender" or "sex" or "normalcy?"

But, if I go on like that, I'll turn this into something else, and the last thing I actually want is for this day to be all misery and gloom. I don't think it is, nor should it be, because we can change. I actually really do hope & think we'll all (and by this I mostly mean cisgender folks, myself included) finally stop wallowing in aimless privilege and find acceptance and become peaceable, and we will change. And so I just hope we can take this day to mourn & reflect on what can be done against these awful crimes and prevent them.