Gay Suicides and Trans Murders
Written by me, originally published on QYN and then on www.transmen.org.uk
Gay Suicides and Trans Murders
Today is Spirit Day. People all around the world, gay and straight, (myself included) will be wearing purple to remember six young gay men who took their own lives. This is horrific. It’s sad. It’s bloody dreadful, don’t get me wrong. But they had a choice. Some of these people were being bullied, yes, and suicide is never an easy choice, but I’ve been there, and it is, in the end, you that kills yourself.
Murder is not a choice. You do not go out and say “My life is shit, I want to die, I’ll get murdered”. For these gay men, they still had the… choice, to kill themselves. It might, and probably did, seem like there was no other choice, but since people are regularly “saved” from suicide, and some go on to live productive lives, clearly there is another path, even if in the depths of despair it isn’t seen. These murdered trans women didn’t have a choice. What murdered trans women?
Well, Victoria Carmen White, for a start. She lived within, I believe, 30 miles of Tyler Clementi, and was murdered three weeks before he killed himself. Oh. How sad. She was a trans woman of colour. Tyler was a young white cissexual man. I wonder why the only news coverage of her death was in her local paper, I really do. Or actually, sadly, I don’t, because I know all too well that society values the suicides of young gay men over the murder of black trans women. Every time.
We’re wearing purple to remember 6 specific cis gay male suicides. Anyone have any guesses as to how many trans women have been murdered this year? I don’t know for the whole year, however, 93 trans women were murdered in the first half of 2010. That’s 93 murders in 181 days. Where’s the outcry for these women that didn’t have a choice, that didn’t get to write a note, that didn’t get to say goodbye, that had their right to a decision forcibly taken away from them?
Where’s the campaign to remember them? Where are all the facebook pages? Where are the memorial days?
Just as those are only the reported suicides, these are only the reported murders.
I’m not against remembering people who killed themselves as a result of bullying. Of course not. But where’s the remembrance for these people who had no choice?
As I write this, 17,204 people have committed to wear purple, on facebook, to remember these 6 gay suicides. Meanwhile, the biggest page on facebook (that I can find) for transgender day of remembrance, has at the time of writing, 2,149 people who “like” it.
Googling “Spirit day gay suicides” comes up with 2,080,000 results. Googling “transgender day of remembrance” comes up with 42,800 results, and has been running since 1998. Spirit day was set up this year.
I’m not writing this to dishonour the memory of people who killed themselves in part due to their sexuality, but I’m writing it because they had a choice, and the 93 certain trans murders so far this year, didn’t. If we assume the trend of one trans murder every other day continued beyond June, that’s about another 55 trans murders being forgotten, whilst we remember 6 gay suicides.
Gay Suicides and Trans Murders
Today is Spirit Day. People all around the world, gay and straight, (myself included) will be wearing purple to remember six young gay men who took their own lives. This is horrific. It’s sad. It’s bloody dreadful, don’t get me wrong. But they had a choice. Some of these people were being bullied, yes, and suicide is never an easy choice, but I’ve been there, and it is, in the end, you that kills yourself.
Murder is not a choice. You do not go out and say “My life is shit, I want to die, I’ll get murdered”. For these gay men, they still had the… choice, to kill themselves. It might, and probably did, seem like there was no other choice, but since people are regularly “saved” from suicide, and some go on to live productive lives, clearly there is another path, even if in the depths of despair it isn’t seen. These murdered trans women didn’t have a choice. What murdered trans women?
Well, Victoria Carmen White, for a start. She lived within, I believe, 30 miles of Tyler Clementi, and was murdered three weeks before he killed himself. Oh. How sad. She was a trans woman of colour. Tyler was a young white cissexual man. I wonder why the only news coverage of her death was in her local paper, I really do. Or actually, sadly, I don’t, because I know all too well that society values the suicides of young gay men over the murder of black trans women. Every time.
We’re wearing purple to remember 6 specific cis gay male suicides. Anyone have any guesses as to how many trans women have been murdered this year? I don’t know for the whole year, however, 93 trans women were murdered in the first half of 2010. That’s 93 murders in 181 days. Where’s the outcry for these women that didn’t have a choice, that didn’t get to write a note, that didn’t get to say goodbye, that had their right to a decision forcibly taken away from them?
Where’s the campaign to remember them? Where are all the facebook pages? Where are the memorial days?
Just as those are only the reported suicides, these are only the reported murders.
I’m not against remembering people who killed themselves as a result of bullying. Of course not. But where’s the remembrance for these people who had no choice?
As I write this, 17,204 people have committed to wear purple, on facebook, to remember these 6 gay suicides. Meanwhile, the biggest page on facebook (that I can find) for transgender day of remembrance, has at the time of writing, 2,149 people who “like” it.
Googling “Spirit day gay suicides” comes up with 2,080,000 results. Googling “transgender day of remembrance” comes up with 42,800 results, and has been running since 1998. Spirit day was set up this year.
I’m not writing this to dishonour the memory of people who killed themselves in part due to their sexuality, but I’m writing it because they had a choice, and the 93 certain trans murders so far this year, didn’t. If we assume the trend of one trans murder every other day continued beyond June, that’s about another 55 trans murders being forgotten, whilst we remember 6 gay suicides.