Transgender Day of Remembrance 2008

As many of you know, today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, the day each year that we remember those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Although I have been observing TDOR for many years, it took on new significance for me after Will's death last year. I thought about him last year and I think about him today, both because he is a transgender person whom I have known and lost and because I think that it's important to remember that even for trans people who were not killed due to anti-transgender discrimination or bias, even death is not the end of the misunderstanding and discrimination that they face.
In Will's situation there were the problems with the media in reporting on his death, and there was also the issue of how his family referred to him at the funeral and on his headstone. For many trans people who have passed away, I suspect obituaries and death certificates often serve to memorialize misrepresentations of their lives.

Syracuse University held a Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial today at Hendrick's Chapel, one that was particularly difficult because a Trans woman in Syracuse, Teish Cannon (nee Moses Cannon, also known as Teish or Lateisha Green) was murdered last weekend because of her gender expression and perceived sexual orientation. Syracuse Community members came together to remember Teish, and all trans people who have been killed due to discrimination and bias. Alexandro Garcia spoke briefly, and noted that it was not long ago that he stood in the same place, in the same position, at the memorial SU held for Will.
I am finding that there are a lot of things this fall that remind me of Will; the anniversary of his death on September 11th, the anniversary of Wells going coed on October 2nd, and today, Transgender Day of Remembrance. And my feelings as I remember Will today are also very tied into Teish's murder, the incredible setback in the Queer Rights movement that took place on November 4th, the way that reporters, even at the NY Times, seem unable to write about Trans issues with any sort of integrity, and the way that I am seeing LGB and especially T characters written out of network TV shows. This is a very exciting time in our history, but for me it is a time that I do not completely feel a part of, and one that, for whatever reason, has made me seriously rethink my feelings about my safety as a gender/queer person for the first time.
I think it is more important now than ever to follow the example that Will set of reaching out to people across borders, of meeting them where they are, and of educating them. Of speaking out against the things we see that we know are wrong. Of responding to situations with both patience and persistence, and of being living examples of the fact that in order for change to happen we have to make it.
Please remember Will today, and also Teish Cannon and the dozens of other trans people killed this year because of their gender identity.