I received an email from Equality Arizona reminding me that today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day when we remember and honor the transgender people who have died violent deaths because of who they were.
If you are not familiar with the term transgender or feel you could learn more, please see this link for a short introduction.
TGDOR, a Houston-based site, has an evocative video and a list with stories of those who have been killed just since the last day of remembrance - 32 this time.
As this list sadly demonstrates, transgender people are among the most vulnerable to violence in our society. They are the butt of constant jokes, even from the likes of Jon Stewart (who chose to mock them during the one Daily Show taping I attended). When they appear in the news, it is usually as victims of violence. When they appear in TV shows or movies, they are usually portrayed as streetwalkers or, again, as victims of violence.
Sadly these portrayals reflect some of the harsh realities of life for transgender people. Many are simply not able to get 'straight' jobs because they are not able to 'pass' as a member of their true gender. Many resort to street work in order to raise the money for hormones and surgery, which puts them at additional risk of both disease and violence (Ebony Whitaker, 20 years old, July 1 2008). Many have tremendous difficulty finding someone who will rent to them, and become homeless, another factor making them even more vulnerable to violent crime. But homeless shelters are nearly all sex-segregated, which exposes transgender people to additional harassment and violence. Some shelters reportedly turn away "transvestites" altogether.
Transgendered teenagers are mocked, beaten and sometimes killed by their classmates (Leticia King, 14 years old, February 14 2008). Some commit suicide (Cameron McWilliams, 10 years old, February 4 2008). Transgender teens are at least five times as likely as other teens to attempt suicide.
Those who transition as adults are frequently cut off by their friends and family and must go through the difficult process essentially alone. They too often attempt suicide - about 1 in 3 in one study. Between half and two-thirds suffer from clinical depression, which drives many to substance abuse and self-harming behaviors like cutting. About twenty percent of transpeople are hospitalized for mental health reasons during their lifetime - not because they are crazy but because they cannot cope with the struggles of their daily existence.
And then there is the violence. The murders are simply the tip of the iceberg as far as violence against transpeople. Although hate crime statistics are not collected separately for trans victims (because they are lumped in with crimes against gay people), they are in a group more likely to be harassed, assaulted, and raped. They are very likely to be victims of domestic violence. Saddest of all, when they ask for help from the police, they often experience violence at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them.
In death, transgender people are often victims again, of a press that does not understand or respect them. News media frequently use trans people's birth names and birth genders in their coverage, against the express wishes of someone who is no longer able to defend him/herself. Reporters often sensationalize stories about violence against trans people, treating the person's trans identity as a lurid "twist" in the story. They should know better, not least because they have so many of these stories to report.
The violence, the discrimination, and the jokes about "trannies" are all part of the same pattern of dehumanization. As Ceridwen Troy wrote, it is just far too easy to kill a transperson. These lists of the dead will have to be kept until we all treat transpeople as human beings, not freaks or jokes. We can act to make our society more trans-friendly by voicing our support for trans-friendly shelters, hate-crime legislation, and alternative schools for GLBT youth. We can treat people who don't fit perfectly into a gender with respect and kindness, and make it unacceptable to crack jokes about them or harass them.
For those on the list, all we can do is grieve.