Take a stand!02:13 Nov 28 2016
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I wrote this back in October,just before mom really started to deteriorate with the intention of posting it then.With everything going on, I never got around to it. But I stand by every word of this and I feel like we need this more now than we did then. I am making this public for a reason. Read this.Share it. Take a stand.
So I've been known to get on my soapbox whenever the notion takes me and now is one of those times. Two "Hot Button" issues this year have been Transphobia and Racism, both of which I have previously spoken of and now , I'm speaking of them again.
For the purpose of this "discussion "I am providing a couple of Definitions, courtesy of The Oxford Dictionary.
Transgender: A person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex. ( For this Trans will be used and will include trans men, Trans women and genderfluid.)
Transphobia: dislike/ prejudice against trans people.
Racism: Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.( For this, I refer to racism towards People of Color.)
People of Color(POC): (My own, definition) Person of Non- white racial origins.( To my knowledge, no one that I will be referring to is of Asian or Native American descent.)
Now let's move forward shall we?
I'll tell you what brought me to my keyboard (Soapbox) tonight. In short, the anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death. Most of you will know the name. Matthew Shepard was 21 years old when he was beaten ,tortured and left to die near Laramie,Wyoming on Oct. 6, 1998.He passed away days later on Oct.12. He was gay, and his death led to a public outcry and to massive changes in hate crime laws,namely the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act.It was passed by Congress 10/22/2009 and signed into law on 10/28/2009 by President Barrack Obama.
I will note here that James Byrd Jr was a 49 year old African American man who was abducted and murdered June 7,1998 by 3 men,2 of which were well known White Supremacists. They beat him, urinated on him and then chained him to their truck .They proceeded to drag him for an estimated 1.5 miles before he died, when he struck a culvert and his right arm was severed and he was decapitated He is believed to have been conscious during the ordeal. They deposited his mutilated body in front of an African American church and then rode off to a Barbecue. The following morning his limbs were found scattered along a seldom used road. The police found 81 places littered with his remains.
I know, I know. What does this have to do with transphobia? Well it reminded me of Brandon Teena. Some of you may have seen Boys Don't Cry, A movie based on parts of his life. Brandon, a trans man who self-identified as male beginning in his teenage years, was subjected to “Corrective rape" and after escaping, went to a hospital for a rape kit and filed a report. Days later he was murdered by his attackers as retaliation, along with two other people in the residence, one of which was attempting to hide him from the murderers. He died of gunshot wounds on Dec.31st, 1993 at the age of 21. His mother has steadfastly refused to acknowledge him as male, and has objected publicly to her child being referred to as male. His gravestone bears his birth name, and the legend: Daughter ,Sister and friend.
Some people refuse to believe that either racism or transphobia are actual problems that we are dealing with today. I know better. Some things, such as refusing to honor a trans persons choice of name or preferred pronouns are passive, but it goes so much further. Trans people, and POC are both subjected to offensive slurs, treated to aggression, abuse and violence, harsh prejudices and many have died. Most of the POC who have died at the hands of the police you have heard of. But did you know that this year (2016) so far 23 trans people have been murdered in the US? Also of those 24, 21 were also POC? That's an average of about two trans people murdered per month and The only one you may have actually heard of was Kayden Clarke, who suffered with mental illness. He was killed by police responding to a call for help as Kayden was suicidal. There was public outcry due in part to his diagnosis of Asperger’s, which is on the Autism spectrum.
Kayden Clarke. Monica Loera*.Jasmine Sierra* .Veronica Banks Cano *. Maya Young*.Demarkis Stansberry *.Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson*(16 years old!!!!). Kourtney Yochum*.Shante Thompson*. Keyonna Blakeney*. Reese Walker*.Mercedes Successful*.
Amos Beede. Goddess Diamond*. Deeniqua Dodds*. Dee Whigham*.Eryka/Erika Tijerina*. Rae'Lynn Thomas*T.T. Safore* Crystal Edmons*.Jazz Alford* . Brandi Bledsoe* Sierra/Simon Bush. Noony Norwood*
(* Denotes a person of Color)
Remember these names people. Remember that these people were all murdered, most of them simply because they were Trans.You can't tell me we don't have a problem. And I do mean WE. The human race, as a whole needs to become more self-aware. We need to take the blinders off of our eyes and truly see the world as it is and ask ourselves if this is the world we want to leave to our children??! A world filled with hate and prejudice? I'm not transgender. I'm not a POC, although I have Native American ancestry. I DO identify as a member of the LGBTQ community, which as a whole experiences much of the same persecution. I have friends, and even family who are POC. I have friends and family who identify as Trans, and/or LGBTQ, and some of them are even a combination of all 3. I will say it now I AM PISSED OFF! I am angry that this is the world we live in today. We all need to stand up and speak out. We ALL need to stop being passive and make a stand against what we know is wrong. Nothing will change until we do. Remember that we all bleed red. Our graves will all be the same size. What we do CAN make a difference. I will stand for what is right. I stand with POC, Trans people and the LGBTQ Community. Won't you join me?
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