This And That In The News

Do you worry about your safety when you travel? Do you think about the culture of the country that you plan to visit? Well I do and many trans-people also worry about their safety. There are just some places that I would not travel to because of their culture against LGBT people.

Deadly assaults in Puerto Rico target gay and transgender people
Miami Herald
By FRANCES ROBLES

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO -- Francheska González looked into her attacker’s eyes as he kicked and punched and saw her own death.

“He kept saying, ‘Faggot! You have no right to exist!’’’ said González, a 41-year-old transsexual. “I’d cry and scream, ‘What happened? Why are you hitting me?’ He said: ‘For being like that.’’
[…]
Eighteen gay or transgender people have been killed since then. Three were murdered in a single week earlier this month.

Ms. Gonzalez was one of the lucky ones, she survived. The Machismo culture of Central America and the Caribbean is deadly to the LGBT population. If you don’t think so, go to Transgender Day of Remembrance website and see how many trans-people were killed in Central America and the Caribbea last year.

The other story that caught my attention was about the brutal beating of Chrissy Lee Polis in a Baltimore area McDonald's

It's Not Easy Peeing 'T': Trans Activists Strive for Safety and Equality
Gapers Block
By Joseph Erbentraut.

And while the emotional outpouring was palpable, particularly from the perspective of a journalist working mostly in queer media, one thing the vast majority of the coverage and commentary surrounding Polis' incident did not do was to place the horrific, near-fatal tragedy into a broader context of either the widespread harassment directed toward transgendered people using public bathrooms nor the broader-yet culture of violence and discrimination that faces many trans and gender-nonconforming individuals as they simply aim to go about their daily lives in public spaces.

You know that is all we want to do, “simply aim to go about their daily lives” all we want is to live our lives in peace. Yet when we were trying to pass the anti-discrimination bill, the opposition was trying to demonize us into monsters that preyed on little kids. They were dragging out examples from other states that had nothing to do with gender identity in states that didn’t even have gender inclusive anti-discrimination laws and even if there was an example it is wrong to paint a whole community by the acts of a few.

The third article feeds into the previous articles, this one is also about discrimination that the trans-community faces, but it is also a positive article about the transition of one trans-woman from Maryland. The article, which is four pages long, has a lot of background information about our struggle for equality and also the rift between the “LG” community and the “T” community. It is well worth reading…The article is in the New Republic and was written by Eliza Gray entitled "Transitions What will it take for America to accept transgender people for who they really are?" I just want to comment on one paragraph that reached out and grabbed me…

A planner by nature, Steve organized a family reunion in Georgia in October 2010. Before the event, she e-mailed everyone to tell them the news and then called each person to discuss it. After the last call, she got stabbing pains in her chest. Doctors kept her at the hospital for 24 hours. It was an anxiety attack, the physical aftershock of hiding herself for so many years.

Over the years I had suffered for many years with anxiety attack, they were increasing in numbers and severity until one time like Caroline I went to the emergency room thinking that I was having a heart attack. The stress and anxiety that builds up in us over hiding a part of ourselves can cause actual medical problems. Those who try to deny us of our rights are literally killing us because of the stigma that they try to attach to us.