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The F Word: Remembering Transgender Victims of Violence
In 128 cities in 17 countries last week, people gathered to remember transgender victims of violence. This year alone, more than 160 transgender people have been murdered—and that's just the ones we know of. Because of a lack of understanding of gender identity issues, it is nearly impossible for organizations such as Transgender Europe to track down all actual cases of violence against trans people, or to determine whether they are all hate crimes, but the brutality involved in many of them implies that they are.
Barack Obama recently signed into law the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which includes gender identity in its protections, and Kalamazoo, Michigan passed a trans-inclusive law that bans discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation. But a national employment non-discrimination act still lags behind, and the hate crimes bill was too late for 21-year-old Tyli'a Mack, stabbed in the streets of Washington, D.C. not far from the offices of Transgender Health Empowerment, an advocacy organization, and Paulina Ibarra, 24, stabbed to death in her Hollywood apartment.
Too often transgender people only turn up in the media as victims of violence, misgendered and wrongly portrayed as gay or lesbian, and discussions of gender identity, like the one around South African runner Caster Semenya, are dehumanizing and offensive. Transgender people too are often thrown under the bus in legislative compromises, like the last round of debate over ENDA. Though the health care bill that passed the House mentions that gender identity is a factor in people experiencing “significant gaps in disease, health outcomes, or access to health care,” that on its own will do little to ensure better care.
Tobi Hill-Meyer of the blog No Designation writes “Traditionally defined as a person who doesn’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, I prefer to shift the focus away from assigned gender and define transgender as a person whose gender is not universally considered valid.”
We have all had moments where our very identity is called into question by another, when someone assumes that they know better than we do who we are. It is important to remember those who have been victims of violence, but we need to also remember the lives of transgender men and women, and not pay attention only when another murder makes headlines.
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
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For information on GRIT magazine, go to www.grit.com.
Thank you for bringing up this important topic. I want to particularly point out that progressives can help limit the marginalization of transgender people that occurs when they are shut out of the job market due to discrimination. As a transgender lawyer, I had to take a job as a secretary when I transitioned from one gender to another. My previous employers refused to give me appropriate references, though they thought I was a good lawyer before they knew. Fortunately, I was able some years later to get a job as a professor in higher education at a very open institution. I’m working on getting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed in Congress, which would make a difference for transgender people, gay people and straight people who are harassed or fired because they are stereotyped as gay or gender-non-conforming.
Problem is, it’s stalled in committee, and they’re delaying it to the point that it will arrive in the Senate during midterm election campaigns. For more info, and who to call, check out The Bilerico Project.
By drjilliantweiss on November 25th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Laws protecting marginalized groups are all well and good but the reality is that precious few persons have the resources to put the law to use. I recently exited a 3 1/2 year raging legal batttle against two massive organizations. I mortgaged my property and laid down six figures of my own money in the pursuit of social justice. At the end of the day, it all came down to who had the most money to throw at the case. In my instance both defendants settled out at the last minute. When it was all said and done I was in the hole financially.Had it gone to court it would have (including appeals) drug out for a couple of more years until I was penniles. So the real question is who, in the present financial climate, has a couple of hundred thousand dollars to ante up and play with the big boys in the halls of injustice
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By tapdancintgirl on November 26th, 2009 at 11:35 am