Wed 23 Nov 2016 In: Our Communities View at Wayback View at NDHA
Transgender Day of Remembrance began as a response to the murder of Rita Hester on November 28, 1998. Rita was stabbed 20 times and rushed to the hospital where she passed away… to this day police still haven’t found Rita’s murderer. In 1999 Transgender Day of Remembrance began in San Francisco bringing to attention the murder of Rita… from where it has grown into an international day of remembrance for all trans people. This is our day and it serves several purposes. It increases awareness of hate crimes against us. It creates a space where we can mourn publicly while honouring the lives of those taken from our community who might be forgotten. These are our brothers and sisters murdered, killed because of their identity, their voices, freedom and lives stripped from them. It allows us to share this experience with the wider Rainbow Whānau, our friends, family and loved ones. This year 295 gender-diverse and trans people have been added to the list of those we need to remember. Murders in our global community took place in 33 countries, the majority in Brazil (123), Mexico (52), the United States (23), Colombia (14), and Venezuela (14). In Asia, most reported cases are in India (6) and Pakistan (5) and, in Europe, in Italy (5) and Turkey (5). This is however only the tip of the iceberg , often data on the murder of trans people is not produced. Violence against the LGBT community has been decreasing in 2016, however violence against transgender people is INCREASING. More trans people have been murdered in 2016 than in any other year since 1998. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to reflect on this alarming figure, to discuss the current level of violence we disproportionately face. In many countries this violence goes unnoticed… because trans victims of violence are often mis-gendered by authorities, their identity denied them even in death. We in the trans community take our lives into our own hands whenever we leave the safety of our homes. Daily, we fear being humiliated and shamed. We often get mocked in public and are regularly the object of jokes in the media. Prejudice and discrimination are rife. In schools, 16.% of transgender students report physical assaults while 32% experience harassment. Sadly a dark cloud hangs over the LGBT community in many parts of the world,this is especially pertinent in regard to the United States with recent statements coming from its new leaders. This year in the USA attempts were made erode legal protections of its transgender citizens in many southern states . We have become the ‘political pariah’ politicians use whip up narratives containing discrimination and lack of equality. It is therefore important to remember those in our community who fight for our legitimacy and petition for our rights as citizens and human beings. In Aotearoa Allyson Hamblett and many others have been tirelessly working on issues of identity documentation and providing for "gender identity" to be included as one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination in section 21 of the Human Rights Act . This year Dakota Hemmingson a transgender hairdresser was awarded nearly $13,250 from the Employment Relations Authority. She wanted to transition in her workplace and her employers subsequently forced her out of her job . We say to Aotearoa – it is our right to live in our chosen identities – it is our right to work, to be productive citizens, to earn money while feel safe and legally protected while in employed. To each transwoman and man, binary or non-binary, gay or straight, genderqueer,gender nonconforming, gender fluid, bi- gendered, demigendered, agendered, gender expansive and gender diverse. Remember this, you are important, you are courageous, against all odds you stand here today, in a space where you have become or are becoming who you want to be. To the our wider LGBT family we say - we need your support. Transgender equality will not attain its ambitions until both our LGBT whānau and the wider community acknowledge the deficits we face that we need to overcome to assist us on our journey. The road we must walk is still not fully pathed. Our journey is definitely not at its end. Not until gender expression and identity are incorporated within other protected categories in our non-discrimination legislation. Not until the process for updating birth certificates to reflect gender change in Aotearoa is streamlined. Not until gender identity and expression are guaranteed in all schools, colleges, and universities, and that comprehensive policies are created to protect trans students. And still… not until… Trans and Gender Queer youth, gay, bi or lesbian are no longer pressured by the wider society to conform to gender and sexuality standards. This alone results our communities, having to experience – year after year unacceptably high rates of suicide. This must end. And thus, we continue to gather every November, in this forum, to celebrate and remember the lives of those in our community who are no longer with us – those, whose lives have been snuffed away by anger, those whose narratives promote Hate and Fear. Let us all come together to sow the seeds helping those outside our community to better understand our trans identities. So that one day, one day soon, we can all live in a world free of hate and transphobia. We will remember them… Abbi Pritchard-Jones - 23rd November 2016
Credit: Abbi Pritchard-Jones
First published: Wednesday, 23rd November 2016 - 4:39pm