Day needed for remembering murdered transgender people
Issue date: 12/9/08
Cameron Bonham
http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2008/12/09/Opinion/Day-Needed.For.Remembering.Murdered.Transgender.People-3575323.shtml (http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2008/12/09/Opinion/Day-Needed.For.Remembering.Murdered.Transgender.People-3575323.shtml)
Editor,
On Feb. 12, Lawrence King, 15, was shot and killed in his classroom by a 14-year-old classmate. In the same month, a black transsexual woman, Duanna Johnson, was beaten and pepper sprayed while handcuffed in a police station in Memphis, and then in November, she was found dead. In the same month, another trans-woman was murdered in Syracuse, N.Y., because they thought she was gay.
Hundreds of people each year are harassed, beaten and even killed because of their perceived sexuality or gender identity. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an occasion in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.