Transgender Day of Remembrance Panel and Vigil in the Capital District

The Pride Agenda's Transgender Rights Program Organizer Ejay Carter reports back from our recent Transgender Day of Remembrance event:

The Empire State Pride Agenda worked with In Our Own Voices, the Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community Council, the NYS Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA) and local advocates Moonhawk River Stone and Jaye McBride to host a Transgender Day of Remembrance Panel and Vigil in Albany on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. The event, held at the First Congregational Church in Albany, drew 85 attendees, including transgender activists and allies from both the Pride in the Pulpit and Pride in Our Union programs.

Panelists included the family members of Lateisha Green, a young African-American trans woman shot and killed in Syracuse in 2008; Moonhawk River Stone, a longtime transgender advocate and educator; Julia Hall, Outreach Project Director for NYSCASA; and Tara Ramsey, a member of In Our Own Voices and survivor of hate violence. Ejay Carter, Transgender Rights Program Organizer for the Pride Agenda, moderated as panelists discussed their experiences--both personal and professional--with bias crimes and violence, including prevention measures. Each of the speakers spoke on ways in which their lives had been touched by violence, and yet each focused on the importance for transgender New Yorkers of being free to be who we are, regardless of transphobia and other forms of hate and discrimination.

Following the panel, attendees were led in a vigil for victims of bias crimes based on gender identity and expression by the Reverend Diane Marquit, and volunteers read out loud the names of those who had perished as a result of transphobic hate crimes in the last several years. While it was a solemn occasion to remember those who have lost their lives to bias crimes, participants also took the opportunity to come together and think about ways to move forward. Conversations around legislation followed the vigil, and participants signed letters in support of the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA), which would prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals in New York State. These letters, along with close to 2,000 others collected in the past several months, will be delivered to Senators in the coming weeks.

To learn more about transgender rights in New York State and to get involved in working to pass the GENDA bill, please contact Ejay Carter, the Transgender Rights Organizer at 518-472-3330 x306 or ecarter@prideagenda.org

2009 Transgender Day of Remembrance

Friday, Nov. 20 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a national day established in 1998 to memorialize transgender and gender non-conforming individuals who have been killed because of who they are. The Day of Remembrance is also a day to raise public awareness and increase education about anti-transgender violence, and it’s a chance to renew our commitment to ending the prejudice and discrimination that leads to these crimes.

There are events taking place across New York State, and the Pride Agenda will be attending many in an effort to continuously raise awareness about transgender issues and to build support for the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA). We hope that you will join us at one of these events--click here to find one near you. In addition, to find out more about how you can get involved with the GENDA coalition in efforts to pass New York's transgender non-discrimination legislation, contact Pride Agenda transgender rights organizer Ejay Carter at ecarter@prideagenda.org or 518-472-3330 ext 306.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Nov. 20, is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a national day established in 1998 to memorialize transgender and gender non-conforming individuals who have been killed because of who they are. The Day of Remembrance is also a day to raise public awareness and increase education about anti-transgender violence, and it’s a chance to renew our commitment to ending the prejudice and discrimination that leads to these crimes.

As a tragic reminder of why the Transgender Day of Remembrance is so important, one person being memorialized this year is Latiesha Green, a 20-year-old from Syracuse who was murdered just last weekend.

Another person being memorialized this year is Lawrence King, the 15-year-old California student who was murdered at school by a fellow student who was disturbed by King's gender identity/sexual orientation. King's story reminds us of the urgent need for the Dignity for All Students Act in New York to protect students from bias-based bullying.

Also, let's remember is Sanesha (Talib) Stewart, 25, who was stabbed to death at her home in the Bronx. Her neighbors' stories of her sweetness and self-acceptance urge us to fight on for the New York Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA).

There are Transgender Day of Remembrance memorials and educational events all over New York. Click here to find out more about events near you.

Sign up here to join the campaign for GENDA and here for Dignity for All Students, so that you can help bring us closer to the day that legal protections and social acceptance will overcome this hate.