November 20

[Trigger Warning: transphobia, violence, including sexual violence]

November 20th is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to acknowledge, publicize, and mourn the lives lost to transphobic violence in the past year.

I'm simply too tired to go into all the gory details. I'm afraid I didn't get to the local ceremony. Perhaps the local university never found someone to step up and organize an event. My bad.

At its base, I think the day of remembrance is about safety. As far as I'm concerned, one of the most basic human rights is having the ability to move about one's neighborhood without fearing the probability of violence.

At the moment, I don't feel that I have that freedom. I'm certainly not alone in this-- many of us who are able to get around cannot be certain we'll be able to do so safely. Many of us fortunate enough to have homes do not feel safe therein.

Transphobia is a major contributor to the violence many of us face (to say nothing of homelessness).

The day of remembrance is a time to bring transphobia front-and-center in discussions of violence. It was conceived of, and still is, a radical act-- the public commemoration of our dead in a world that trivializes our existence.

Everyone on this planet who cares to live in a safe world should care passionately about transphobic violence. If we send the message that 'you're trans?... and you're dead.' is anything short of a crime against humanity, we have failed.

'...and you're dead'

That's an attitude I feel surrounded by. I can think of few things more suffocating than living in a society where far too many people appear to take others' lives with reckless frivolity. Life has value.

Far too often, our culture mocks the humanity of trans and gender non-conforming people. This is the problem. When those among us have established that some people are less than, the precedent has been set: people can be disposable commodities.

It's not merely compassion and humanity that should drive our many allies in the fight against transphobia-- it's self-preservation.

'...and you're dead'

That's a possibility for many of us-- the poor, people of color, LGBTQ people, women, the disabled, the young, the people who are in the wrong place and the wrong time, and of course those of us who fit into more than one of those (or other) categories for any number of reasons. We cannot continue like this.

We need to establish, once and for all, that human life has worth. On this day, let us start by celebrating the courage, strength, and humanity of my trans siblings, while mourning the lives lost in pursuit of our simplest of goals.

As the months move on, we must all continue to address the violence of homicide, but also other interlocking forms of violence: sexual violence, discrimination, poverty. However, on this day, let us mourn the loss of our trans siblings, our friends, our family. We must fight on-- our family cannot endure our pain forever.
Crossposted