Year called "pivotal" for transgender people
HARTFORD, Connecticut, November 17, 2008 – On Thursday, November 20th, Ct TransAdvocacy Coalition and MCC/Hartford will observe Connecticut’s 7th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance with a vigil walk at 5:15 PM from First Presbyterian Church (136 Capitol Ave, Hartford) to the steps of the Ct State Capitol. There will be a Rally and Reading of Names on the Capitol Steps from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. followed by the Transgender DOR Program at 7 PM inside the MCC/Hartford Church (155 Wyllys Street). This year we will be remembering twenty-nine individuals murdered due to anti-transgender violence over the previous twelve months. All events are open to the public.
This year the Transgender Day of Remembrance is particularly important here in Connecticut, for as we achieved full Marriage Equality for same-sex couples we are still actively working to secure basic human rights for the transgender community within Connecticut’s non-discrimination statutes. Our motto this year is Marriage Equality in ’08 ~ Transgender Equality in ’09. The transgender community suffers from severe discrimination of their basic human rights in areas such as employment, housing and healthcare; and sadly as the Transgender Day of Remembrance reminds all of us, many in the transgender community suffer the ultimate forms of discrimination and that is the hate crimes, violence and murders that are inflicted upon far too many in our community ~ simply for being different.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998, was a primary impetus behind the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved. Such Transphobic hate crimes are not just against transgender people, but anyone who transgresses the so-called acceptable masculine/feminine norms of our society. These could be your children, your brothers, your sisters, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors, you!
Tragic murders of those individuals who visibly transgress the gender binaries of male/female [Transgender and gender non-conforming] are occurring nationally at a rate of over one person a month. And each year the number of these murders is increasing, with very few being solved most sensationalized by the press and many ignored by the police or plea-bargained by the prosecutor. And each murder is horrific in nature, with many against our youth of color.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
5:15 PM Gathering at First Presbyterian Church, 136 Capitol Ave, Hartford
Vigil Walk from First Presbyterian Church to the State Capitol
5:30 PM Rally at the State Capitol
7:00 PM Transgender DOR Program at MCC Hartford, 155 Wyllys Street, Hartford
List of Vigils to be held around the U.S. and Canada
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