[gennee]

[size=18]Transgender Day of Remembrance will on Tuesday November 20th. Services and vigils will be held across America and throughout the world. Let's also celebration the gains the gain transgender people have made. Let it also be a day of celebration.

Gennee[/size]

[gennee]

I attended Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil and celbration last Tuesday, November 20th. There were 150-200 people present at the local LGBT center here. We marched to Jackson Square Park with candles, flashlights, and posters. The park is small so we all made a circle and held hands. After a prayer and comments, we marched around the block and back to the center. The group was boisterous and excited.
Back at the center thee were speakers,comments and tributes to those who died from violence. Everone enjoyed a luscious meal afterwards. I met some old friends, two transsexuals and a transman. As I surveyed the room I saw much diversity. There were crossdressers, gays, genderqueer, lesbians, intersex, transsexuals, transmen, straight people and others. I was encouraged by by all the different people present and realized that there are a lot of us out there. We have to put aside our differences and continue working for trans rights.
I had some trepidation, wondering how I would react. Transgender violence and suicide are a sore spot for me. I'm happy that I did go. There was a 'Tree of Remembrance' to honor those who have gone on. Everyone was given a colored paper leaf in which they could write someone's name. I didn't know anyone personally who died from violence but I put down the names of two trans women who died needless. Rita Hester was a young woman stabbed to death in 1998 because she chose to be herself. The other person was Tyra Hunter, an transwoman who was not treated for her injuries when medical personnel discovered that she was genetically male. Tyra died of her injuries. I tacked my leaf to the tree. I wrote a brief poem to them affirming them and promising that their passing will not be in vain.

Gennee