TDOR is an annual event that memorializes those who died due to transgender related hatred or prejudice. This year, 143 people were murdered all over the world for being themselves (and these are only the murders that were reported as such). The International Transgender Day of Remembrance website lists the names, locations, date of death, and other information for those who passed away each year due to transgender related bias .

One listing from their website reads (warning, graphic):

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
Location: Cayey, Peurto Rico
Cause of Death: decapitated
Date of Death: November 14, 2009
Jorge was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso.
Jorge was 19 years old.
Sources: http://www.365gay.com/news/murder-suspect-thought-puerto-rico-gay-teen-was-a-woman/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2397832/hate_crime_gay_puerto_rican_teen_george.html

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/gay-puerto-rican-teen-decapitated-dismembered-and-burned.html

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/man-arrested-in-horrific-murder-of-puerto-rican-gay-teen.html

-TDOR.org

It has been really important to me in the past two years of being out to attend/participate in TDOR events. At my university last year, I was responsible for organizing the TDOR demonstration that was held on campus. This year, I attended the TDOR event in Atlanta, GA.

The event this year was two part, one indoor version with people speaking (very conference style), and the other was an outdoor candlelight vigil on the state capitol steps while each name was read aloud followed by the single chime of a bell.

This is a picture of me and my girlfriend at the Atlanta TDOR service.

It was a good service, but TDOR always gets me down. It’s like going to a funeral (and that particular day it was my second one). Not to mention I have some criticisms (surprise, surprise). For instance, NOTHING was said about how an overwhelming majority of the names called out were 1) trans women, 2) people of color, 3) from Central and South America. WTF. There was some serious white privilege going on at this event (or plain ignorance).

Dually, I was annoyed at the first portion of the event (the conference style) that failed to call to action change encompassing an intersection of oppressions – racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, abelism, ect – and instead took way too much time honoring and recognizing the multitude of politicians and faith leaders in the audience.

There was just too much that went unsaid and too much that needed to be said again. Our community faces this kind of violence as a whole, but as a COMMUNITY, we must also recognize that we all face this violence differently. Does being white protect me from transphobia? Maybe, maybe not. But it is my duty as a trans person and an ally to people of color to at least acknowledge (I would hope do more than just that) that the death statistics are overwhelmingly trans women who are people of color and who live in what our nation calls “third world countries” (fuck that phrase) and who likely are working class or sex workers (or may not have a job at all).

So listen close my trans friends and allies. Recognize the stats, and fucking call them out. Stop being an ally only to the trans portion of people’s identities, but start being an ally to the entire person.

For some reason unknonwn to me, the entirety of Femmeessay has been deleted (maybe it was the comment storm/fail that happened in the post? or maybe a wordpress fail?). At any rate, it is still technically up, all you have to do is Google the article title and click “Cache” under the link. Google keeps images of everything on their server, so nothing deletes automatically.

I originally had reposted this article, but have since taken it down. If you are “Woman” from Femmeessay please contact me.

TGEU & Liminalis Press Release:

Every 3rd day the murder of a trans person is reported:

Trans Murder Monitoring Project reveals more than 200 reported murders of trans persons in the last 1 1/2 years

In April 2009 the international NGO Transgender Europe (TGEU) in cooperation with the multilingual Online-Magazine “Liminalis — A Journal for Sex/Gender Emancipation and Resistance” started a new project, the /Trans Murder Monitoring Project/, which focuses on systematically reporting murdered trans people on a worldwide scale.

The very preliminary results of the first step of this project have revealed a total of 204 cases of reported murders of trans people world wide in the last 1 1/2 years. 121 cases of murdered trans people have been reported in 2008. From January to June 2009 already 83 cases of murdered trans people have been reported.

Furthermore, the preliminary results show an increase in the number of reports of murdered trans people over the last years. Since the beginning of 2008 the murder of a trans person is reported every third day, on average.

The cases have been reported from all six World regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The majority of cases have been reported from Latin America and North America. On these continents the majority of cases have been reported from Brazil (59) and the U.S.A. (16) for 2008 and from Brazil (23), Venezuela (20), and Guatemala (10) for the first six months of 2009. Moreover, the preliminary results show a total of 11 murdered trans people reported for Colombia followed by 5 for Honduras and 4 for Mexico and Venezuela for 2008, and 6 for Mexico and 3 for Argentina, and the Dominican Republic for the first six months of 2009.

In total 91 murders of trans people were reported in 11 Latin American countries in 2008, and 73 murders of trans people in 11 Latin American countries in the first six months of 2009. The reported murders of trans people in Latin America account for 75% and 88% of the world wide reported murders of trans people in 2008 and the first six months of 2009 respectively.**

The preliminary results also reveal that murders of trans people have been reported in 5 European countries in 2008 (Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey) and in 4 European countries (Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey) in the first six months of 2009. In Asia murders of trans people were reported for Iraq, Malaysia, and Singapore in 2008, and for India in the first six months of 2009. In Oceania murders of trans people were reported for Australia in 2008, and for New Zealand in the first six months of 2009. In total the preliminary results show reports of murdered trans people in 22 countries in 2008, and in 17 countries in the first six months of 2009.

The preliminary results furthermore reveal some terrifying details on the nature of these crimes. The data shows that in 2008 six of the victims were minors and in the first six months of 2009 three minors were among the victims. One of these minors, 15 year-old Leticia King from Oxnard (USA), was shot twice in the head by a classmate in front of the whole class. Apart from these brutal murders, 5 of the reported murdered trans persons in 2008 were found tortured or dismembered, 2 were shot by retired policemen, and 3 were executed in police stations. 5 of the reported murdered trans persons were found tortured or dismembered in the first six months of 2009.

The preliminary results of TGEU’s and Liminalis’ Trans Murder Monitoring project are presented in form of a report, tables, name lists, and maps in the new issue of Liminalis (www.liminalis.de/project.html) in English, Spanish, and German.

Here are the direct links to the PDFs of the report and its component parts:
Report
Name list 2008
Name list January-June 2009
Tables 2008
Tables January-June 2009
Map 2008
Map January-June 2009

Cross posted at: Questioning Transphobia and Bird of Paradox.

The panel was moderated by BT, and included Cole Thaler the Transgender Rights Attorney of Lambda Legal, Cheryl Courtney-Evens of Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth (TILT), Tracee McDaniels of Juxtaposed Center For Transformation , Chanel Haley of TILT, and Sonny Nordmarken, a student and local activist.

Here are some quotes that got me thinking about things:

“I am looking forward to the time when we can be seen as the human community,” – Tracee McDaniels

In reference to homelessness in the transgender community (which by the way, is a huge issue) Tracee McDaniels said, ” We should all be totally outraged that there are people in our society who cannot go to a shelter in their time of need.”

“It baffles me that we still have to justify who we are,” – Cole Thaler

“[Stonewall] stands for a time when we said, ‘Enough is enough!’,” – Chanel Haley

Stonewall was about people fighting back against the police. “Police are still killing us. Why does that not have people out in the streets?” – Cole Thaler

So the topics discussed included why the T needs to be included in the LGB movement, homelessness in the transgender community, violence against transgender people, and what the Stonewall Riots means to each of the panelists. I hope you enjoyed these quotes, and I hope they get you thinking.

First Hate Comment on My Site : A person by the name of “Disgusted” posted this on my site in response to my KRXQ updates. I initially deleted the comment, but I feel like this person has a right to voice their “opinion”, but I am going let it be posted here so that my readers see the kind of bigotry that transpeople face in their day to day lives. Trust me, this is nothing compared to other things I have heard.

“You all need to get over yourselves. You are turning this country into a bunch of whiners. Your hypocrisy amazes me. I understand that it is quite “Trendy” to be gay, lesbian, transgender or whatever you call it these days, but I do not have to accept your choice or agree with it. I can disagree and even say so if I want to. I could even go as far a make a joke about your life style if I felt like it, because I am a Free American. The biggest tragedy of all is that people like you are trying to change America. You don’t want people to be free to think, to have opinions and voice them, especially if they disagree with you. I wonder what other freedoms you think Americans should no longer have…”

UPDATED JUNE 7TH, 2009, 11:50AM

TO OUR LOYAL ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN FOLLOWERS,

WE HAVE FAILED YOU. AS A SHOW, AS PEOPLE, AS BROADCASTERS, WE HAVE SIMPLY FAILED ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL.

WE PRESENTED OUR OPINIONS ON A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT IN A HATEFUL, CHILDISH AND CRUDE FASHION; AND THEN, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO RETRACT THOSE REMARKS, WE DEFENDED THEM.

SINCE THEN, YOU, OUR LOYAL LISTENERS, HAVE MADE IT CLEAR TO US THAT WE WENT TOO FAR. THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. NONE OF YOU SAID THAT WE COULDN’T HAVE OPINIONS, YET SO MANY OF YOU SAID THAT THE WAY WE GAVE THEM CROSSED THE LINE. FURTHER, YOU SAID THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO MASK OUR COMMENTS AS “JOKES THAT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD BY OUR AUDIENCE,” WAS UNACCEPTABLE. I WOULD SAY NOW THAT IT WAS WORSE THAN THAT, IT WAS COWARDLY. YOU HAVE MADE THAT CLEAR.

WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO VARIOUS GROUPS AND ASKED FOR A CHANCE TO MAKE THIS RIGHT; TO RESPOND, WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION, TO THE EDUCATION THAT OUR AUDIENCE HAS PROVIDED US. THAT OPPORTUNITY HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY GRANTED THIS THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 11TH. AT 7:30 A.M.

THE WORD APOLOGY APPEARS NO WHERE IN THIS LETTER FOR A REASON. WE ALREADY HID FROM DOING THE RIGHT THING ONCE AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. APOLOGIZING IN A WRITTEN, POSTED STATEMENT IS A FORM OF COWARDICE. WE WILL SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID THIS THURSDAY.

ON A FINAL, PERSONAL NOTE, AS THE LEADER AND OWNER OF THE SHOW, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT WE NEED TO REFRAIN FROM BROADCASTING NEW EPISODES UNTIL WE CAN ADDRESS THIS ON THURSDAY . WE WILL RETURN TO THE AIR AT 7:30 A.M. JUNE 11TH.

ROB WILLIAMS
ROB, ARNIE AND DAWN

I am not surprised with the lost of their funding they decided to issue this statement. Too bad they didn’t do that originally..

Well the radio station had their chance.

LGBT individuals and organizations responded to the lack of response by putting pressure on the financial supporters of the radio station (read: big companies running their ads on the air). And it’s this pressure that seems to work. Currently ten major companies are removing their advertisements from the radio station specifically because of the transphobic/abuse comments that were said on the air .

“You guys imply that all you have to do is…whack my non-existant child with a shoe if he goes clopping around the house in high heels,” commented a listener who identified herself as a male-to-female transgender who previously had served in the US armed forces for 22 years. “Don’t you think that all the abuse that I took in school would have changed that basic nature in me?”

“Thank you for your service, but let me just say this right now,” quipped an angered States. “You fought (in the armed forces) for nothing! With the opinions that you have right there, you fought for absolutely nothing!”

Anyone who expected an apology from two-parts of the breakfast show trio were left with only points of clarification for the controversial dialogue, and that didn’t sit well with gay and lesbian organizations.

“While it was heartening for us to hear that Rob Williams and Arnie States did not advocate for violence against children,” GLAAD reported on their blog, “they also did not hold themselves accountable for their dehumanizing and defamatory words used to describe transgender children in last week’s show.”

That didn’t sit well with advertisers either. Shortly after Wednesday’s show aired, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group wrote an e-mail to GLAAD announcing they were pulling their advertisement-based support for KRXQ.

“We found the segment to be offensive,” a statement released by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group read, “and as a result, we are pulling our Snapple advertising from the station.”

Chipotle Mexican Grill and Sonic Corporation also announced that day they, too, were pulling advertisement support for the station in response to the offensive comments.

“SONIC in no way condones violence toward children and does not wish to be associated with media content that condones or promotes such activity in any way”

The Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show, which is owned and produced by Williams, continues to air weekday mornings on KRXQ 98.5 FM in Sacramento and in syndication on KDOT 104.5 FM in Reno. The 12-year radio program has been no stranger to controversy in the past; in 2004, the show was fined $55,000 by the Federal Communications Counsel for “on-air indecency” following a complaint filed by James Peak.

Update 6/5, 2PM: Three new companies have reportedly pulled their advertisement support from KRXQ. GLAAD Blog is reporting Carl’s Jr., Verizon Wireless and Bank of America have sent press releases announcing they have pulled their ads from KRXQ in response to the Rob, Arnie & Dawn transgender comments from May 28th.

Update 6/5, 3:30PM: GLAAD now reports Nissan North America has stated it will not renew its advertising contract with KRXQ over the May 28th dialogue on the Rob, Arnie & Dawn show regarding transgendered children. Wells Fargo Bank has clarified it was not an advertiser of the Rob, Arnie & Dawn show during the May 28th program and has no intention of renewing its advertisement support with KRXQ in the future.

Update 6/5, 8:45PM: McDonald’s is not lovin’ the Rob, Arnie & Dawn show. The fast food giant, along with AT&T, have withdrawn or “are in the process of withdrawing” advertisement support from KRXQ, bringing the list of advertisers to drop the Rob, Arnie & Dawn show to ten.

- Fox 40 Sacramento

Keep up the work!

GLAAD also found the audio file that the radio show deleted off their website and uploaded it. It hurts like hell to listen to this, and I cried. But I had to listen to it, because I needed to know what they said so that I can be informed when I call the radio station to complain. Dawn, the third host of this show, is a strong person for standing up against her co-hosts about this. Scroll about halfway down the page to click on the audio link. The transgender segment starts at about 4 minutes and 48 seconds.

WAYS TO TAKE ACTION
1. Call the FCC: speech promoting/condoning/encouraging violence against children (trans or not) should not be aloud on the air.

Commissioner Michael J. Copps
Michael.Copps@fcc.gov

Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov

Commissioner Robert McDowell Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov

And here is info on filing a complaint:

http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

2. Contact advertising companies and inform them of the kind of things there business is being associated with. Here’s a list with contact information:

STATE FARM INSURANCE
Dawn Fones, Public Affairs Specialist
dawn.fones.cv9s@statefarm.com
309-766-2259

ALBERTSON’S
David Oliver, Investors & Financial Media
david.m.oliver@supervalu.com
952-828-4540

Steve Bloomquist
steve.j.bloomquist@supervalu.com
952-828-4144

JARED JEWELERS
David Bouffard, Consumer & Trade Media
dbouffard@jewels.com
330-668-5369

GUITAR CENTER
Norman Hajjar, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer
on Twitter as Venezia

RED BULL
Ellie Applen, Media Contact
Ellen.applen@us.redbull.com
310-460-4532

SLEEP TRAIN MATTRESS CENTERS
Dale Carlsen, President
dale@sleeptrain.com

PURINA
Keith Schopp, Public Relations
kschopp@purina.com
314-982-2577

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES
Keoni Wagner Vice President, Public Affairs
Keoni.Wagner@hawaiianair.com
808-838-6778

PEP BOYS
Ray Arthur, Chief Financial Officer
investorrelations@pepboys.com

Alexandra Spooner, Communications Manager
mediarelations@pepboys.com

GRIFFIN & REED EYECARE:
info@LASIKworld.com

PRO CITY MORTGAGE:
procity@procitymortgage.com

The hosts, Rob Williams and Arnie States, devoted the segment in question to a vicious diatribe against transgender children, some as young as five, focusing in particular on the case of one Omaha family raising a gender dysphoric child, and their decision to support her transition from male to female.

Williams and States took turns referring to gender dysphoric children as “idiots” and “freaks,” who were just out “for attention” and had “a mental disorder that just needs to somehow be gotten out of them,” either by verbal abuse on the part of the parents, or even shock therapy.

“Allowing transgenders to exist, pretty soon it becomes normal to fall in love with the animals,” they said.

For his part, States bragged that if his own son were to ever dare put on a pair of high heels, States would beat his son with one of his own shoes. He urged parents whose own little boys expressed a desire to wear a dress to verbally abuse and degrade them as a viable response. “Because you know what? Boys don’t wear high heel shoes. And in my house, they definitely don’t wear high heels.

“I’m going to go, ‘You know what? You’re a little idiot! You little dumbass!’” States sneered, adding later, “I look forward to when [the transgender children] go out into society and society beats them down. And they wind up in therapy.”

…. “I’m not open-minded once I look into sumpin’” one of the two men grunted at the beginning of the segment, their voices interchangeable. “I have every right to call you a freak and judge you on that. It makes me sick. ‘Mommy, I’m a girl trapped in a boy’s body,’” he simpered, mimicking an effeminate little boy. “I want to wear a dwess.”

They berated co-host Dawn Rossi, who seemed genuinely horrified by the rising crescendo of ugliness towards the children and their parents from States and Williams.

“You’re actually defending allowing people to become freaks?” they seethed. “A boy who wants to wear a dress is a freak. A nut.” Comparing transgender children to “fat bastard kids on Maury,” States and Williams urged advocates of transgender children to “stop hiding behind research and laws,” whose authority they wholeheartedly reject. Braying with the certitude of the jubilantly ignorant, States and Williams revealed to listeners that “transgenders [sic] did not exist four decades ago,” apparently unaware of the historical fact that transgender individuals have existed in every culture throughout recorded history, including in native American cultures where the “two spirited” were revered as teachers, healers, and shamans.

“If the kid ever gets to be eighteen,” States snarled, “and says ‘I still feel like a woman!’ you say, ‘Get out! Go be a freak! And understand, SON, that society will never accept you because we still have some moral judgment.”

-Full article can be found at The Huffington Post”

The casual link between Dr. Tiller’s death and Bill O’Reilley’s obsessive baiting of Dr. Tiller on his show, cannot go unnoticed. It’s this link, that makes these talk show hosts equally as dangerous. The verbal violence of this show is not simply transphobia, but a direct assault on transgender children and individuals. I am absolutely terrified of the escalating violence that seems to be rising…

Among the comments made by the hosts:

ROB WILLIAMS [11:12]: This is a weird person who is demanding attention. And when it’s a child, all it takes is a hug, maybe some tough love or anything in between. When your little boy said, ‘Mommy, I want to walk around in a dress.’ You tell them no cause that’s not what boys do. But that’s not what we’re doing in this culture.

ARNIE STATES [13:27]: If my son, God forbid, if my son put on a pair of high heels, I would probably hit him with one of my shoes. I would throw a shoe at him. Because you know what? Boys don’t wear high heels. And in my house, they definitely don’t wear high heels.

ROB WILLIAMS [17:45]: Dawn, they are freaks. They are abnormal. Not because they’re girls trapped in boys bodies but because they have a mental disorder that needs to be somehow gotten out of them. That’s where therapy could help them.

ROB WILLIAMS [18:15]: Or because they were molested. You know a lot of times these transgenders were molested. And you need to work with them on that. The point is you don’t allow the behavior. You cure the cause!

- Pam’s House Blend

There is a poll on the talk show’s website about the comments. The full audio link has conveniently been removed.

To all my readers: A non-news post will be coming soon.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last week that beginning May 15, all passengers will be asked to enter their full name – as it appears on the government issued identification they will be traveling with – when making airline reservations. For instance, if a person’s first, middle and last name are on their driver’s license and their driver’s license is what they will be traveling with, their first, middle and last name must be used when purchasing their airline ticket. TSA officers at airports across the country will check to make sure they match when passengers pass through security.

The requirement is the first phase of TSA’s Secure Flight passenger vetting program which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA.

The second phase of Secure Flight begins August 15, 2009, when passengers will be required to enter their date of birth and gender when booking airline flights. TSA said the additional data will help prevent the misidentification of passengers who have similar names to individuals on the watch list, and better identify individuals that may pose a known or suspected threat.

Once Secure Flight’s advanced technology is fully implemented in early 2010, enhanced watch list matching will be done by the government. Airlines will gather a passenger’s full name, date of birth and gender when making an airline reservation to determine if the passenger is a match to the “No Fly” or “Selectee” lists.

For more information about the Secure Flight passenger vetting program, visit http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/index.shtm.

- Homeland Security & Emergency Management