Storm E. Fort
GSW 1110
Jay Jones
19 November 2015
Save the World, Save the Transgender
Imagine someone judging a companion of yours based on their appearance every second of everyday and the only comfortable place you have is the comfort of your own home. Depending on who you are, you may be extremely uncomfortable or you may not care but you will always remember how you’ve been treated. Imagine losing a family member because they’re not socially accepted by everyone in the world. These are the type of problem tran* individuals face every day. Trans* communities have expanded over the years, but as their community expands they have not been socially accepted. Trans* individuals have a large number of stereotypes and issue because of who they are. According to Planet Transgender, Trans* women are murdered every twenty-nine hours, yet they only make up three tenths of America’s population. Trans* women lack support from the community and the law to raise the awareness of disrespect they encounter. To accommodate the Trans* community we must promote respect and justice for all people.
The types of situations that Transgenders encounter everyday are almost terrifying.
Robin Tran was asked by xoJane , “What’s the hardest part about being transgender?”and her story was very intriguing Robin Tran stated “the hardest part about being openly trans is the everyday little struggles that accumulate, and which lead to fatigue, exhaustion, and depression”. She explained that her day started as soon as she checks her social media in the morning and she is informed of the “another trans woman of color getting murdered”. I could not imagine waking up every day knowing I have to fear for my life as soon as I walk of the door. Comments such as: “Men are men and women are women. Why do we have to make it complicated? It’s based in science.” or ““Transgender women are just mentally ill dudes.” These words may not hurt them physically but it does take a stab at their humanity. Trans women cannot live comfortably even at the times you may think they can. Trans women are targeted in their neighborhoods, place of work, and even schools. Trans women are most likely to be isolated in areas around people they’re most familiar with. The everyday struggles as a trans woman can get rough depending on the circumstance.
An African American woman named Natasha McKenna, suffered from a mental illness was “shocked four times with a Taser gun by a sheriff’s deputy”. McKenna was in a coma for a number of days before she took her last breath. Her case received small attention and a “Student March for Natasha McKenna” was supposed to go into action, but it was put on hold because of the low number of participants. People who were interested in raising awareness sent a lot of invites to users on Facebook, but there were little responses back. To raise more awareness about police brutality toward trans* women is to take initiative no matter the circumstance. If the supporters of Natasha McKenna supports her, they should not be discouraged by the size of their voice but they should be empowered be they’re establishing a change in their community and the world.
A Trans woman of color experienced the lack of belonging around her own people during a rally for Trayvon Martin. Elle Hearns was supporting the cause just like everyone around her when she noticed unwanted faces, disrespectful slurs, transphobic comments aimed at her. She told an article, The Root, that it made her feel very unsafe because most the disrespect she received were by African American men and did not know the actions they were going to take with her around. People forgot why they attended the rally which was for black people mattering and unifying the community. If Elle Hearns cannot depend on her people to make her feel like she matters in the world then who will stand with her in her fight for respect, equity, and equality.
One of the founders of Black Lives Matter planned to raise awareness about transphobia to the African American community and the rest of the world. Co-founder, Patrisse Cullors said, “I think a better job that the Black Lives Matter movement could do is actually uplifting the narratives of black trans women.” Cullors planned to call a meeting and gather a group of leaders such as women of the trans community and anyone in support their issues. To avoid these issues, Cullors said that “that leaders organizing protests across the country must be educated on how to take action against people who are making protest spaces unsafe for transgender women”. She told The Root about a situation when a transphobic person acted inappropriately during an Occupy LAPD protest. The transphobic man was addressed directly and pulled away from the group to avoid humility and conflict. The issue was resolved quickly after the man left. People who attend Black Lives Matter rallies create a contradiction to the cause because they’re displaying hatred. Clearly, her idea was a great and effective way to kill the issue that took place. Being able to identify a problem and fishing it out is the kind of power and leadership skills we need to overturn the problems against trans* women face in public areas.
Hate crimes have been aimed at transgender, but the tran* community lack support from prestigious authority to gain justice. In the past few years, America has moved forward by staying aware of hate crimes happening in the world. Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act. This act was passed in 2009 and signed by President Barack Obama. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act was established “as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010”. In tribute to Matthew Shepard, who was tortured and murdered for his sexual orientation. Along with James Byrd, Jr. who was tied to a truck and dragged by two white supremacists because of his race. The purpose of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act was to “impose tougher penalties on criminals who target their victims of the victim’s race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability”. To eliminate the murder rate of tran* women, we need to keep our communities informed about federal offenses. If we got the law enforce me involved with raising awareness of the Hate Crime Prevention act, people will understand how serious these kinds of crimes are. If the law takes matters into their hands then so will our communities. When authority gets involved it shows how imperative it is, not only to the trans* community but to the rest of the world.
We all want to be accepted for who we are, but we must come together to fulfill this goal. People miss the Platinum rule of “treating others how they want to be treated” because the Golden rule has always taught us to “treat others how we wanted to be treated” and some people may not want the same treatment as ourselves. Creating an environment where trans* women are not alienated or targeted against will help us move forward in making safer environments for the tran* community. Taking a stand against the hate crimes against these women will lower their murder rate and the world’s murder rate tremendously.
Work Cited Page
Busey, Kelli. “A Transgender Person Is Being Murdered Every 29 Hours. Can You Stop Killing
Us for Just One Week?”. Planet Transgender. 23 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Garza, Alicia. “A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement by Alicia Garza”
The Feminist Wire. 07 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2015
Milloy, Courtland. “Black Women’s Lives Matter, Too, Say the Women behind the Iconic
Hashtag.” The Washington Post. 19 May 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Starr, Terrell Jermaine. “Violence Against Black Transgender Women Goes Largely Ignored.”
The Root. 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
Tran, Robin. “My Everyday Struggles and Lived Experiences as a Trans Woman Are Not
Simply a Thought Exercise.” XoJane. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.