Transgender Day Of Remembrance

I want to start out by thanking everyone for being here today, it means a lot that we can all show solidarity here at South. We are here to mourn the lives of the people we have lost due to violence against the transgender community. Vigils like these have been held annually in November since 1999, when Gwendolyn Ann Smith held the first vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in 1998. What started as a small gathering in San Francisco has turned into in event recognized by various organizations all over the world. Today, we are holding the first ever Transgender Day of Remembrance at Glenbrook South. It is so important to remember those who have died because of hatred and prejudice and to stand united against intolerance.

Imagine, you go to work in your dress shoes, black suit, buzz-cut hair, red power tie, and nobody pays you a second look. But, the second you get home, you kick off your shoes, and don high-heels, the suit is replaced with a dress, your short wig is taken off, and you let your long curls fall, and your tie is in the closet, with a necklace in its place. Such hiding of true feelings is not an unheard concept in the transgender world. Millions of transgender people will never express their true feelings in their lifetime. This is similar to The Intruder by Andre Dubus, Kenneth Girard a

In Susan Stryker’s (De)Subjugated Knowledges, she culminates a history of academic attention to transgender studies; tracking the field’s movement from abnormal psychology to its contemporary form of self-analysis and discourse (by which I mean that rather than being discussed by those outside of the trans community, transgender voices are now leading their own academic discussions). At a basic level, Stryker defines transgender studies as that which:

The article starts off defining the term transgender, and different circumstances where others attempted to ‘normalize’ the homosexual and transgender movements. The article states that transgender people “are deeply troubled individuals who need professional help, not societal approval or affirmation.” (Traditional Values Coalition 1). The article continues, showing instances where the transgender movement won “major political victor[ies]” (Traditional Values Coalition 2), such as California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 which protected transgender children at public schools. The coalition states that the media is helping the transgender movement by portraying transgender people as “misunderstood and persecuted” (Traditional

As I continue on with my essay, I want to elaborate more on to some the causes that effect the transgender community and their rights as people. Scott Skinner-Thompson

The reading in this assignment made me understand and appreciate the lives of others. Transgender are just like you and me. They have the same goals and inspirations. However, their hardships are more drastic then normal. I got the chance to be educated on trans 101 with this assignment. I have taken so much away from these readings. It has helped me be more understand of what transgender go through. Having the opportunity to have the two articles side by side to make my notes and analyzing. Finding the connections between the two and disconnect from society to transgender communities.

This article hugely impacted me because I realized what it’s like to be outside the box and it gave me a perspective on something, I wasn't against, but didn’t fully understand which fascinated me. My highschool subscribed deeply to the cisgender binary. “There is no such thing as ‘real’ gender-- there is only the gender we experience ourselves and the gender we experience other people to be. ”(Serano). I noticed much like the gender role I had subscribed to, that I am now trying to veer from, the binary creates an even bigger role that people shouldn’t have to subscribe to. Trans people are maligned or misunderstood, systematically pathologized, sensationalized and marginalized (11,Serano) much like I was, inside the box, and no one should have to feel like that. This selection gave me a whole new outlook on life and systematic oppression that the box

Everyday Transgender Women of color are mistreated and repressed by society, they face constant ridicule and mistreatment. They face a constant issue of society judging them and putting them under a microscope. Societal repression is a constant issue these women face just because of their gender identity. Transgender Women of Color are one of the most least mentioned groups in society. This under shadowed group of women is struggling. They face constant abuse and repression, society is destroying these women. These women who are just like everyone else are one of the most mistreated societal groups around. They face things like mistreatment in the health field that should be helping them through one of the biggest transitions of their life.

In a very somber, yet powerful evening, the students of the rainbow center held their

How the transgender population fits the theme is they are a group of individuals surviving systematic oppression from heterosexual's. In todays society, the straight population is perceived as the potential oppressors (Sue, D. W., Sue, D., & Sue, D. W., 2003). Everyday, transgender's are making risky choices, for example, using the opposite gender's bathroom, choice of outfits, and how to exploit themselves in public. Heterosexual's have matured towards the transgender population. By picking clothing the transgender wants to wear will expose their sexual preference to the Heterosexual groups, therefore avoiding feelings or behaviors that can be offensive (Sue, D. W., Sue, D., & Sue, D. W.,

A concept that has helped me to understand this article better is when we went over gender. Before, I may not have fully understood the gravity of the discrimination transgendered people face within their own society, causing them to feel marginalized within their own group. To combine that prior

The first article is “The Social Construction of Gender” by Judith Lorber. In this essay she states that sex and gender is constructed through the society in which we live and that, “Gender is so pervasive that in our society we assume it is bred into our genes” (Lorber, 64). Lorber’s article takes the standpoint that physical gender expression is such an important topic to individuals because when the conventions of gender are shifted, “we feel socially dislocated” (65). An example of this is when people who are not used to gender shifts encounter a “transvestite,” or in modern terms a transgender person, their perceptions are disrupted. If someone does not express physical gender “normally” with their bodies—i.e. a

Coming out as a transgender, identifying with a gender expression that differs from the assigned sex, has proven to be quite difficult through the ages. While the acceptance of transgender people has grown significantly higher throughout the years, people’s stance on them are still quite divided, and the uphill battle for transgender rights has proven this. Just giving transgenders the right to simply go to the bathroom they identify with has shown to be controversial according to the TIME cover Battle of the Bathroom. The TIME magazine makes sure to note the problem defiantly “far more than public facilities” (Scherer par. 9). Transgender rights are a problem that Jamison Green, president for World Professional Association for Transgender Health, thoroughly addresses in a report written by Alan Greenblatt for CQ Researcher. Jamison Green’s specific purpose in that report is to justify why transgender people deserve basic human rights like everybody else, as shown in society, through his use of facts, qualifiers, figurative language, counterarguments, and appeals to logic and values.

In Chapter 8 Johnson discusses the many different ways that individuals avoid discussing issues of depression. One of the strategies utilized by transphobes is to Minimize the issue, specifically in relation to using the proper bathrooms and pronouns. Transgender people stand up and ask for their identities to be respected and are called “whiny” or “special snowflakes.” Much like the sexist jokes that permeate pop culture, transphobic jokes are equally abundant. How many sitcoms have had one of the main protagonists sleep with a trans-woman and have the punch-line be that she is actually a “man”? Another strategy Johnson discusses is Calling It a Different Name, transphobes will claim that transgender people are mentally ill in some capacity.

The social issue that I chose which affects society today is transgender inequality. These issues are more recently gaining attention and becoming a prevalent topic of inequality within our country. A transgender person is someone whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. As more and more transgender people share their stories in the media, the social problems that arise from these stories are discrimination within their everyday lives. They suffer from scrutiny and judgment from their peers, and thus many hide their gender identity from family and society. This social injustice can be as simple as a glance or staring, or offensive comments and questions to violent hate crimes. Transgender people are prone to violence and harassment, and often not feeling safe in any aspect of society. They are fired from jobs, denied medical insurance, and being murdered left and right solely for being transgender. “A staggering 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population, with rates rising for those who lost a job due to bias (55%), were harassed/bullied in school (51%), had low household income, or were the victim of physical assault (61%) or sexual assault (64%)” (National Center for Transgender Equality). The structure of this paper will consist of adding all the research that was gathered over the semester, news articles and peer