Trans Nonviolence and Civil Discourse
Filed by: Kelley Winters
January 18, 2011 12:30 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/01/trans-nonviolence_and_civil_discourse_on_this_mart.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2011/01/trans-nonviolence_and_civil_discourse_on_this_mart.php)
Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man [or woman] who wields it. I believe in this method because I think it is the only way to reestablish a broken community.
--Martin Luther King, Jr., December 11, 1964
Forty-seven years after Dr. King's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, these words remain as inspiring and urgent to us today as they were then. Against a backdrop of national dialogue on hate speech and gun violence, I have been heartbroken this month at escalating personal attacks online among transsexual women and deepening division between communities of gender diversity.