The Transgender Day of Remembrance: Rita

Photo Credit: Label-Aid

Content Warning: 

Murder, Death, Hate Crimes, Transphobia.

If you are bothered by any of these, please read this post with caution.

This video by Skylar Kergil talks about the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which takes place today - November 20th - annually.

Skylar shared the following information about how TDOR got started,

"The Transgender Day of Remembrance was a day founded in order for us to memorialize those whose lives were lost due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. It is a day to raise awareness of anti-transgender hate crimes, as well as a day for us to mourn and honor those whose lives were lost who may be forgotten. Transgender Day of Remembrance, or TDOR if that's a simpler acronym for you, started in 1999 following the murder of Rita Hester in 1998.

Photo Credit: TransGRiot

Rita Hester was a transgender African American woman, murdered on November 28th 1998 in Boston, Massachusetts...She was killed in her apartment due to anti-transgender violence, just two days before her 35th birthday.

The reaction to that was an outpouring of grief and sadness into the streets, to hold a vigil just a few days later for Rita's honor. That vigil has turned into Transgender Day of Remembrance."

Skylar also shared an exceptional original poem titled Rita (in honor of Rita Hester mentioned above), but as he said "it is really for all of us." You can hear that by clicking the video link above or right here.
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Transgender: Someone whose gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

October 7th, 1998 (Cont.)

* This is a continuation of my last post about Matthew Shepard. If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend you read that one first.

This post mentions assault, homophobic actions and slurs, hate crimes, death, abuse, neglect, suicide, and murder. If you are triggered by any of these things, please read with caution.

Photo Credit: World Builder Blog

It's safe to assume that most people don't know a whole lot about Matthew Shepard. It seems like the majority of times I've brought that name up in conversation I get one of two responses:

"Who?"
(Usually this one)

or less frequently,

"Oh, that kid from The Laramie Project?"

(Which I will explain shortly.)

The saddest thing about Matt's story to me is that the knowledge that he was gay can change someone's entire perspective. Notice in my last post that I didn't mention Matt's sexuality until the last sentence. You probably felt sad reading about how young he was when he died and the positive comments from his peers. Maybe you felt a little sick to your stomach reading about the severity of his assault. Perhaps it even got you thinking about your own kids or friends and what it might be like to be in the shoes of the people who were close to Matt when he was killed. Who wouldn't be upset after hearing of such a tragic outcome for an innocent young man, right?

But for some, just one word can completely change their opinion on Matt's story.

According to the Children's Defense Fund on a daily basis in The United States an average of 4 children or teens are killed by parental abuse or neglect, 6 by suicide, 21 by accidents, and 48 by gunfire. How many of these funerals do you see bombarded by protesters? How many people show up to the funerals of these kids and teens with signs saying they belong in Hell? How many of these parents get told by strangers every day of their life that their kid deserved to be brutally murdered and left to die?

Matthew's story went on to be published into a bestselling book written by his mother titled "The Meaning of Matthew", captured in a documentary titled "Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine" which has since won 10 seperate film festival awards, be recreated in a TV movie, and turned into a play titled "The Laramie Project".

The Matthew Shepard Foundation was created in his honor, an organization whose self-described mission is to "embrace diversity" and "erase hate by replacing it with understanding, compassion, and acceptance." The foundation also started an online resource known as Matthew's Place where LGBTQA+ youth can go to find anything from a list of homeless shelters in their area to kind words from other LGBTQA+ youth and allies. In 2009, the foundation worked for the passing of the "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act". Until the passing of the act, hate crime statistics did not include those for LGBTQA+ victims in which the reason for the hate crime was their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

So, with all this information out there why is it that Matthew Shepard's name is still so widely unrecognized? Why is it that the only thing the people who do recognize him seem to know him from is The Laramie Project, and why many of those people don't even realize the story is not fictional? Why is it that in 49 out of 50 states, there is a perfectly legal Gay and Trans Panic Defense in which the culprit of a hate crime can be let free of charges because they were taken off guard by the news that a victim was gay or transgender?

Society has made some great advances in the way we perceive and treat people who are LGBTQA+, but that does not mean the issues are anywhere near over. Matthew's story may have built an albeit typically unrecognized legacy, but is certainly not the last of its kind. In my next post, I want to share some recent statistics on LGBTQA+ hate crimes, bullying, and the like.

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Gay: Someone who identifies as male and is attracted to other males, or an umbrella term for anyone who is sexually attracted to their own sex.

Sexuality/Sexual Orientation: A person's sexual orientation, preference, or capacity for sexual feelings

LGBTQA+: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, asexual, plus

Gender Identity: A person's personal perception of their own gender

Transgender: Someone whose gender identity does not align with their biological sex

October 7th, 1998

This post mentions assault, guns, homophobic actions and slurs, hate crimes, gore, death,

 and murder. If you are triggered by any of these things, please read with caution.

Photo Credit: Philip N. Cohen

A memorial for Matthew Shepard.

Photo Credit: US Civilization

Matthew (Matt) Shepard was only 21 when he was killed.

 Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson, both also 21, abducted Matt on the night of October 7th, 1998 and left him to die tied to a split-rail fence in the desolate town of Laramie, Wyoming after brutally beating him with the butt of a pistol. It is estimated that the attackers hit Matt over 18 times in both the face and the head, cracking his skull and the bones at his right ear and completely destroying his brain-stem. Cuts covered his face, face, and neck and his airway was blocked by the blood that filled his mouth. It took almost an entire day for Matt to be found by a bicyclist passing by who originally mistook his unconscious, blood covered, and mangled body for a scarecrow. In critical condition, Matt was taken by medical staff to a hospital in Colorado where his condition was called too severe for any sort of treatment. He remained in a coma on full life support until he took his final breath mere days later. 

Matthew Shepard was a hard-working student at the University of Wyoming. He was studying political science, foreign relations, and linguistics, a passion brought on by the teen years he spend living in Switzerland. At both the American School in Switzerland and the high school he attended until his junior year in Wyoming, he was elected Peer Counselor by his classmates. Those who knew him have described him as friendly, a good listener, well liked, easy to converse with, and passionate about the well-being and equal treatment of others. Matt had friends all over the world.

And yet the news of his death was not met by sorrow for all. What was supposed to be a private, family-and-friends only funeral to mourn Matthew's life was bombarded by protesters. Men, women, and young children gathered with signs saying things like "Matt in Hell" and openly supporting the two men who murdered him. They argued that Matt deserved what happened to him and that the actions taken Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson that night were completely justified by the fact that Matthew Shepard was gay.

  

A protester outside of Matthew Shepard's funeral.

Photo Credit: Syracuse University Magazine     

   Fred Phelps Sr., founder of Westboro Baptist Church, protesting in favor of Matthew's death.

Photo Credit: Daniel Beekman

To Be Continued...

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Gay: Someone who identifies as male and is attracted to other males, or an umbrella term for anyone who is sexually attracted to their own sex.