Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"I do not need to stress the importance of Transgender Day of Remembrance as a viable act of visibility and resistance. However, it is not enough for us to simply mourn these victims; we have to take the necessary steps to destroy the racist institutional barriers that perpetuate their deaths and not leave the burden of responsibility on communities of color. Instead, predominately white-led transgender advocacy organizations, which undoubtedly have the greatest access to resources, financial and otherwise, must begin to seriously consider the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community by developing and enforcing policy that takes an intersectional approach to the identities of trans women of color." -- Kortney Ryan Ziegler, Ph.D., 2012-11-19

[Today, in various cities, there will be gatherings to memorialize the many people murdered over the past twelve months for being, or being perceived as, transgender. As in other years, the majority of the victims were trans women of colour. The strongest criticism I hear about TDoR is that many of the gatherings appear to be mostly organized by and for white trans people despite so few of the victims whose names are recited being white. There seems to be a lot to say in examining how this happens, what it means, and what to do about it ... and at this point I should probably be shutting up and listening more than anything else. As Dr. Ziegler wrote, TDoR is still important in any case. These people were killed at least partly for being-trans-like-me, even if most were killed also for not-looking-like-me. We all need change. Some need it a bit more urgently.]