On Nov. 20, Trans Day of Remembrance occurred as it has for the last 24 years. This is done to remember the people who were murdered due to anti-trans violence, and to celebrate the lives of those deceased individuals. According to the Human Rights Campaign, over the last year 26 members of the gender queer community have been snuffed out, with 88% of these victims being people of color. All of these people are never coming back. All of them had a unique life completely separate from their gender identity, but because of the transphobia of certain people, that is all they were seen as. It is so important to humanize people because dehumanization is what led to their death.
Park has made no mention of Trans Day of Remembrance throughout my three years at Park. There are acknowledgments of this day from teachers, but from the administration, I have heard nothing. There have been efforts from the admin to curb transphobia, but to my knowledge, there haven’t been efforts to celebrate the lives of trans people. While removing transphobia is very beneficial, the source of this hatred comes from the dehumanization of trans individuals and the misunderstanding of what it is to be trans. Unless we remove this source and rehumanize the queer community in society’s eyes, this hatred will continue to brew and will never truly die out. It is essential that Park celebrates the lives of queer and trans people. We must rehumanize them through education, celebration and reflection.
At Park, queer people being recognized as a whole is an issue. When people aren’t represented properly, it is so much easier to misinform and misrepresent these communities, which can lead to hate, making it so much easier to dehumanize people. That makes it very important that we recognize Trans Day of Remembrance, and any other event that relates, such as Trans Day of Visibility on March 31.
Even though Park missed the official date, there is still time to discuss and recognize Trans Day of Remembrance. Park can still name them all and recognize the homicides that occurred due to anti-trans violence. Whether that be in the school newsletter or over the intercom, these names are important to say. Even if Park decides not to make a remark on Trans Day of Remembrance, there are always future events that can be celebrated.
Please look at their names. Recognize they all lived a life as yours, only it was snuffed out too early. These names released over the last year are only the names we know of and there are more unknown, whether that be due to their queer status being intentionally hidden by law enforcement or by accident. The names we know of are as follows: London Price, Lisa Love, Dominic Dupree, A’nee Johnson, Sherlyn Marjorie, Chyna Long, Luis Ángel Díaz Castro, YOKO, Thomas ‘Tom-Tom’ Robertson, DéVonnie J’Rae Johnson, Camdyn Rider, Jacob Williamson, Chanell Perez Ortiz, Ashia Davis, Banko Brown, Koko Da Doll, Ashley Burton, Ta’Siyah Woodland, Tortuguita, Chashay Ashanti Henderson, Maria Jose Rivera Rivera, Zachee Imanitwitaho, Unique Banks, KC Johnson and Jasmine “Star” Mack.
