Transgender Day of Remembrance 2015

The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in 1999, after Rita Hester, a trans woman and advocate, was murdered in Boston. Gwendolyn Ann Smith, her colleague and friend, organized a vigil to remember her and every person murdered and lost.  She understood at the heart level that being a trans ally means we are human allies asserting that every person should live with full dignity.  Every person should have full access to opportunity regardless of whether or not they fit within a dominant narrative. Every person should be free from the mythology that insists on the lie that a restrictive and rigid binary code is all there is to gender or sexuality. 

All people should feel safe expressing themselves fully in their communities, churches, classrooms, dorms, families and professional endeavors. Every person deserves the right to be visible and heard. As a trans human ally, I must reject the lies that perpetuate stigma and violence. 

Of the 70 new names appearing on the Transgender Day of Remembrance site for 2015, 20 percent lived in the United States, with a record number of 22 murders in the first 8 months. 77 percent lived in Brazil. 
While policies protecting the rights of Trans persons have advanced in several nations including the US and Brazil, they do not reverse hatred and violence. People like us must make different choices, release our own fears, prejudices, biases and judgements. Only when we stop terrorizing ourselves will we stop terrorizing others. 

The question is not "what will end" but "who will end?
What change can I (we) make today that not only asserts, but secures human dignity for our Trans colleagues on our campuses and in our Association today?
 
Make a recommendation today to correct one obvious deficiency in facility planning, programming and support. 
And, tomorrow, remember and make another one. Keep on until the campus and our Association is safe and brave space for everyone. Thank you.