It is for us.
If you need to understand how sacred this day is you need only think of the countless trans people who have lost their families. Who will mourn the death of the faceless transsexual killed in a hotel room? Her family has left her long ago. Who will mourn the death of the young woman who's parents wished was a son? Will her life story be edited and revised to erase who she was? Will hatred and bigotry slaughter her memory, too?
Many of my dearest friends: If they were to die would their epitaph be their own?
This day is not for you. It is for ours.
With that in mind, please read this announcement from the Diversity Center in Santa Cruz:
Transgender Day of RemembranceI am beyond words. To describe this sacred day as "fun" or "exciting" is repulsive to the extreme. I have no words to express how violent, how cruel, it is to so trivialize the deaths of our slain.
Please join us for this poignant, meaningful and FUN event. We will feature trans-related artwork, trans-health information with Planned Parenthood's Dr. Jen Hastings, speakers, music, spoken word pieces by Lex - all in addition to a candle-light ceremony honoring the names and lives of those we've lost to the violence of transphobia.
Additional information with more specific, exciting event details will be posted here soon.
This is disgusting and it is not alone in the attempt by many to gentrify our Day of Remembrance. I am tired. Our slain deserve to be remembered with dignity and reverence. Their requiem should not be a sideshow in a pride event.
This is for them. This is for us. This is for their loved ones.
HOW DARE YOU try to take this away!
9 comments:
I've seen similar disgusting appropriation of the TDOR (I think by the HRC one year?) that, like this, tried to "lighten up" a day that cannot and should not be "lightened up."
But it still manages to be just as disgusting when I come across another story like this one. I don't get why it isn't glaringly obvious to more GLB orgs that you just don't do this.
Thanks, Santa Cruz.
Theo and I have decided against having an event for TDoR on our university campus. We expected any event we did would either be turned into an education event for cis people or we'd be told off for our anger and distress. This isn't a direction we expected our event to be pushed in, but that's only because we didn't think anyone could be that callous.
Would they have a FUN event for Veterans Day (Rememberance Day in the UK)? Doubt it.
I've taken to thinking of TDOR as the one day of the year I'd feel comfortable expressing anger at cis people - but I've revised that opinion in light of the behaviour of certain cis LGB people recently who I don't trust not to try to call me out for "cisphobia" or something if I point out that they are complicit in a system that denies trans people their rights to privacy, dignity and safety.
This event is sacred and I've actually written a prayer that I'll be reading as part of the service at my Unitarian church the day after but the fact remains, I do not trust the students' union here with this event.
"Fun"? Fun????
Re-reading this --
You would think they would at least realize that "poignant" and "meaningful" just doesn't belong in the same sentence as "fun."
In 2007 I went to TDOR in Santa Cruz, and I thought it was well done-no cis fail, just a straight up memorial service. Alas, times change.
The last time I went to a TDOR service was in 2008 at the De Frank Center in San Jose, and I thought that that one was fine; I think the moral here is that TDOR can be hosted by a cis organization, as long as its trans people, not cis, who are calling the shots.
I think amandainjsc sums it up. Cis organizations may be able to host these things, but they need to remember that it is OUR event and WE need to be the ones in charge.
What is distressing here is that this is a transgender run event. Both people who are coordinating it are transgender including the person who made the announcement which I quoted.
The other coordinator left a note on the Facebook event page (which I linked to) which clarifies their intention to make this year's event a fun one.
Needless to say I still feel the day is being gentrified and appropriated.
Wow, now that I actually read the FB link, I sorta know/knew one of the organizers.
Small world indeed, and slightly disappointing.
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