On Friday, a young man's parents had to make the difficult decision to remove their son from life support. He was a popular football player and would be the first in his family to graduate. He was well liked and admired. His accidental death was a tragedy for the school I teach at and everyone's heart broke for his family's loss, for the school's loss. The school community came together to mourn this young man's passing and, in some way, celebrate his life.
When people die, we often gather together because as a people, we need the kind of healing closure that being with others who are mourning can provide. We can remember who they were and express our love in some measure, sealing the memories of those we were close to, or close enough to, in our hearts and minds.
Today there is a different kind of memorial for the dead. These people had their lives taken from them simply because of their identity. These people were erased, more than often by extremely violent means, for the simple reason that they were transgendred.
Today those of us who are trans, perhaps those who feel themselves beyond that label and those who are friends, partners and allies of transpeople, gather together not to celebrate the lives of those lost. Mostly we don't know them. They are people in places close to home and on the other side of the world who had the misfortune of discovering that their lives were worthless to some violent murderer. We gather together to remind not only ourselves, but others around us that for as many gain as we have made, hundreds known and many unknown are no longer living because they suffer from the same condition we do and someone thought they should not be allowed to draw another breath because of it.
Today we face a world still filled with demons and monsters and we listen as the names of their victims, the details of their crimes are read aloud. There is no circumstance where someone should ever be able to reason out why another person might be worthy of being stabbed repeatedly and then dragged behind a car. Or dismembered and then burned. But the perpetrators of these crimes are so broken that they have no problem doing these things and worse to somone just because that person is trans.
Today we gather in different cities around the world and we light a candle and some of us pray while others simply hope that there will be an end to violence against transpeople. Some of us pray and others simply hope that there will an end to violence against anyone. No one deserves to have her or his life taken away.
Take a moment today and think about those you know who have died, however they have died. Keep them close to your heart. Take a moment and think about the lives of those who have had their lives taken from them simply for being themselves and ask what you can do to put an end to the fear and hate.