November 20th, Transgender Day of Rememberance

This blog post was written by Tara Wright, a member of Pima County Public Library’s Pride team.

Well. It’s that time, again. Another year, another November, another Transgender Remembrance Day. Another time I type my little words, tell you all about the trans experience, and once again explain that we just want to be allowed to be alive.

For those who are unfamiliar; Transgender Day of Remembrance is a day when we remember all the transgender people who were killed this year. Killed by other people. This list doesn’t even include those who took their own lives. And this list only includes those in the US and Puerto Rico. Those who were properly identified, at least.

So many more names would be on this list, if they weren’t misgendered in their death reports, if they weren’t deadnamed in their obituaries. Those are names we may never know, and never be able to remember.

(Misgendering is when you use pronouns and call someone a gender they don’t identify as. A deadname is a trans person’s previous name if they have changed theirs since they came out.)

Included in this list are those who were either killed after we went to publication last year, or were discovered to have been murdered after we went to publication. All information has been obtained from the Human Rights Campaign.

…

How many times am I going to have to compile these posts? How many times am I going to have to beg and plead for readers to care? How many times am I going to have to comb through these lists and go to the sources to dig through the details of the deaths of those who are like me?

How much longer do we have to fight for our right to be alive? To be allowed to exist in peace? To not be assaulted, to not be fired for our identities, to be allowed to just live our lives?

Do you know how many complaints libraries across the country get for having LGBTQ items on our shelves? For having books by BIPOC authors? (Did you know a high proportion of trans people who are killed, especially trans women, are people of color?) Do you know what it’s like to know that and to have to justify your existence to the people who come into your workplace? I only fall under one of those categories, and even that’s exhausting.

We just want to be allowed to live. Our existence isn’t a threat to yours. Trans adults aren’t a threat to your life. Trans kids aren’t a threat to your life. We just want to be alive.

Stop killing us. Stop treating us like freaks, like wild animals. Stop dehumanizing us with your laws and your actions.

We just want to live.

Morgan Moore, 17. Montgomery Village, Maryland. Died of criminal neglect May 10^th, 2022.

London Starr, 40. Fort Worth, Texas. Shot December 8^th, 2017. Died in hospice July 2^nd, 2022.

Kylie Monali, 41. Murrieta, California. Killed in prison September 7^th, 2022.

Daniel Aston, 28. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Killed in mass shooting November 20^th, 2022.

Kelly Loving, 40. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Killed in mass shooting November 20^th, 2022.

Diamond Jackson-McDonald, 27. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Shot and killed November 24^th, 2022.

Destiny Howard, 23. Macon, Georgia. Shot and killed December 9^th, 2022.

Mar’Quis ‘MJ’ Jackson, 33. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died of head trauma December 12^th, 2022.

Caelee Love-Light, 27. Phoenix, Arizona. Shot and killed December 17^th, 2022.

Jasmine “Star” Mack, 36. Washington, DC. Stabbed to death January 7^th, 2023.

KC Johnson, 27. Wilmington, North Carolina. Killed January 14^th, 2023, after going missing January 13^th.

Tortuguita, 26. Atlanta, Georgia. Shot and killed by state troopers January 18^th, 2023.

Maria Jose Rivera Rivera, 22. Houston, Texas. Shot and killed January 21^st, 2023.

Unique Banks, 21. Chicago, Illinois. Killed in mass shooting January 23^rd, 2023.

Zachee Imanitwitaho, 26. Louisville, Kentucky. Shot and killed February 3^rd, 2023.

Chashay Henderson, 31. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shot and killed February 26^th, 2023.

Tasiyah “Siyah” Woodland, 18. St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Shot and killed March 24^th, 2023.

Ashley Burton, 37. Atlanta, Georgia. Shot and killed April 11^th, 2023.

Koko Da Doll, 35. Atlanta, Georgia. Shot and killed April 18^th, 2023.

Banko Brown, 24. San Francisco, California. Shot and killed by a security guard April 27^th, 2023.

LaKendra Andrews, 26. Dallas, Texas. Shot and killed April 29^th.

Ashia Davis, 34. Highland Park, Michigan. Killed June 2^nd, 2023.

Chanell Perez Ortiz, 29. Carolina, Puerto Rico. Shot and killed June 25^th, 2023.

Jacob Williamson, 18. Monroe, South Carolina. Killed June 30^th, 2023.

Camdyn Rider, 21. Winter Park, Florida. Shot and killed by his partner July 21^st, 2023.

DéVonnie J’Rae Johnson, 28. Los Angeles, California. Shot and killed by a security guard August 7^th, 2023.

Luis Ángel Díaz Castro, 22. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Killed by his ex-partner August 12^th, 2023.

Thomas “Tom-Tom” Robertson, 28. Calumet City, Indiana. Shot and killed August 17^th, 2023.

Sherlyn Marjorie, 35. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Beaten to death by her partner September 17^th, 2023.

YOKO, 30. New Orleans, Louisiana. Killed in a hit and run September 19^th, 2023.

Chyna Long, 30. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shot and killed October 8^th, 2023.

A’nee Johnson, 30. Washington, DC. Pushed into traffic October 14^th, 2023.

Dominic Dupree, 25. Chicago, Illinois. Shot and killed October 13^th, 2023.

Lisa Love, 35. Chicago, Illinois. Shot and killed October 17^th, 2023.

London Price, 26. Miami-Dade County, Florida. Shot and killed October 23^rd, 2023.