Campus groups will honor transgender victims Tuesday
A local 'Transgender Day of Remembrance' Tuesday will commemorate those who have been killed

Jared Paben
News Reporter

December 01, 2003
Three campus groups -- ASUO, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Alliance and Gender Queer -- are sponsoring a local "Transgender Day of Remembrance" on Tuesday to honor transgender people who have been killed around the world.

Thirty-seven transgender people have been killed in the last 14 months in regions around the world, according to the "Remembering Our Dead" Web site, a site devoted to compiling information and bringing awareness to violence against transgender people. Seventeen of those deaths occurred in the United States.

On Tuesday morning, volunteers will place markers displaying each of the victims' names, stories and photos in the EMU Amphitheater, ASUO Multicultural Advocate Austin Shaw-Phillips said.

On Tuesday night, ethnic studies Visiting Instructor Fiona Ngô will speak about characteristics the victims had in common, including their race and gender. That speech will take place in the Ben Linder Forum in the EMU at 5 p.m. and will be followed by a reading of the names of the victims.

Shaw-Phillips, who handled the logistical planning of the day's events, said that as a transgender person, Tuesday is a time for him to reflect on and honor those who died.

"It's been really intense to work on this event because two people have died since we started," he said.

He explained that most of the victims of transgender violence were also people of color. Many others were poor and identified as women. He hoped the speech would also help show that violence toward transgender people is frequently based on race as well as gender.

"Racist violence mixes in with gender violence," he said. "We're going to try to start having that conversation."

The national "Transgender Day of Remembrance" was held on Nov. 20. The day was created in 1999 to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered Nov. 28, 1998, according to the "Remembering Our Dead" Web site. Her death brought widespread attention to the issue of transgender violence and sparked the creation of the "Remembering Our Dead" Web site.

For more information go to http://www.gender.org/remember/#.

Contact the people/culture/faith reporter at jaredpaben@dailyemerald.com.