Transgender Day Of Remembrance

I wish I could avoid this day,
I wish I could avoid its meaning,
I wish I could avoid the reality,
I wish I could avoid the necessity,

But I can't.

Can't stop remembering why,
Can't stop remembering how,
Can't stop remembering who.

     We choose life, optimism, that things will be better when we live authentically, when we stop lying and truly reveal who we are.
     We just want the same dignity and respect that is denied us while being granted without question to others.
     We remember the dead today to remember our task to fight the ignorance, fear and hatred.

We dedicate our work to those who were lost,
     We celebrate the living and those of us to come.

Thank you for sharing this Helen

My church held a TGoR service on the evening of Sunday the 17th.  It was attended by some members of the church LGBT group plus a few trans* friends and a few of their friends.  Not a good turn-out and only people who are already aware of the issues.

The feminist group at a local college held an open-air service on the evening of Tuesday the 19th.  Very cold but fortunately no rain.  Ten people were present, but most of them were not previously known to me, presumably feminist students.  This was a good example of one minority group supporting another and would have done a little to raise awareness.

I found both services very emotional around the time of reading the names.  At the church service I led that part and gave it the form "I am ... and I was ...".

Thank you for posting Helen.  We will keep up the struggle.

I was part of a TDoR ceremony held at a local seminary. There were several trans and gender creative persons who were working on this, as well as a few cis male allies. It was a powerful thing, and we had the congregants read most of the names. Doing so left them visibly shaken, as they extinguished candles after reading names.

I, then, was given the honor of lighting a candle in honor of Sasha Fleischman, the agender teen who was burned while napping on a bus right out here, not far from the seminary where our TDoR was held.

I pray that a time will come when TDoR's will be a thing of the past.