Rethinking the opposition to Measure 8

[brooksmoses]

Yes, the opposition to Measure 8 was a good thing, and it was great that there was there was this groundswell of public outcry about it and protests -- across the country, even; the local paper in Austin had a large bit about theirs.

But some people in the GLBT community -- including some of my friends -- have a 1-in-12 chance of getting murdered just for who they are in a gendered sense. Tomorrow is the International Day of Remembrance for the victims of anti-transgender violence. Last year in Portland, only about 40 people showed up. Maybe we could pay attention to this, too?

Comments

[suzanne.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that I agree that these are mutually exclusive. I mean why not both? Why use "but" instead of "and"? Suporting the first doesn't mean I don't also support the second. Paying attention to this /also/ seems like a good idea, it doesn't mean that paying attention to Prop 8 was a bad idea.

I guess I still read "but" as "everything I said before this is invalid." This is reinforced by the choice of words in the title... Are you really rethinking the measure 8 opposition? Or are you wanting to expand that outcry and protests to the GLBT community?

[brooksmoses]

I don't think they're mutually exclusive, no, and I certainly don't think that paying attention to Prop 8 was a bad idea. It's just that the amount of support for the anti-8 movement just brings into stark contrast the amount of attention paid to the problems around basic safety for transgendered people.

If I didn't have a friend who was directly impacted by this, I wouldn't have even known that tomorrow was the tenth annual day of remembrance for the victims. And that bothers me, especially in contrast.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Huh. I didn't interpret it that way (although the title does feel wrong for the sentiment, then). I interpreted it as "this second thing is more serious," i.e. you can't get married if you're dead. And with the "too" at the end, it definitely felt like a widening of scope rather than an either/or choice to me.

[oneironaut.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Brooks.

[pure-agnostic.livejournal.com]

Hey, I hope you don't mind me clarifying something. Your post mentions the GLBT community and goes on to mention that 1 in 12 are likely to get murdered. I really want to emphasize that transgendered person face a 1 in 12 chance. The odds are lower for BLG folks. Furthermore, the International Day of Remembrance is actually the Trans Day of Remembrance. The distinction is important and I want to bring that to each reader's attention.

Also, much of the article you link to was about how the HRC "took over" the Day of Remembrance and brought in people to speak. According to the article, those speakers don't represent transgendered people, and the HRC just whitewashed the whole event to make it presentable and acceptable. By not mentioning transgendered people specifically in your post, you basically did the same thing as the HRC.

Let's not marginalize transgendered people out of the GLBT community.

[brooksmoses]

I think you missed where I said, "some people in the GLBT community". Which is as much my fault as yours; I should have emphasized that more, and I see how missing that small word changes the entire meaning of the post.

My intent was not to marginalize transgendered people, but to emphasize that they are part of us, where so many people see "transgender" and think of them as other, and their issues as unrelated. By speaking of them without qualifiers, I meant to emphasize that they are first and foremost "people", to avoid that dismissiveness.

In any case, I've edited the post a touch to make this clearer.

[pure-agnostic.livejournal.com]

I think you missed where I said, "some people in the GLBT community".

Oh, I noticed that wording first time I read your post. I just don't think it clarifies that you are talking about transgendered people. I don't see how your wording emphasizes the T part of GLBT anymore than saying "some people in the blonde-brunette-redheaded community" emphasizes redheads or saying that "some people in the Asian-American community" emphasizes Japanese immigrants.

Thanks for clarifying the original post a bit. If somebody wants to attend a TDOR (Transgendered Day Of Remembrance) event, I'd like to point them to this site: http://www.transgenderdor.org/ it lists where to find TDOR events in cities all over the world.

[cobalt-00.livejournal.com]

Regardless of pickiness over wording, thanks for bringing this up. It was not something of which I was aware - thank you for changing that.