Kelly Moyer's Keynote Address At San Diego's Transgender Day Of Remembrance Memorium
by: Autumn Sandeen
Sun Nov 21, 2010 at 15:15:00 PM EST
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18038/kelly-moyers-keynote-address-at-san-diegos-transgender-day-of-remembrance San Diego Transgender Day Of Remembrance Keynote Address
By Kelly Moyer
November 20, 2010
When I was asked to speak at this year's Day of Remembrance, I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. Thumbnail Link: Kelly Moyer's Prepared Remarks For San Diego's 2010 Transgender Day Of Remembrance MemoriamSome previous speeches have shared messages of hope and change and progress. This will not be one of those speeches. Other speeches called us to action and encouraged us to be out, to educate the people around us and show them our humanity. This will not be one of those speeches either. We do have reasons to be hopeful, and we do need to keep educating people, but there are other issues we need to discuss tonight.
Every year, we read the names and stories of people who were murdered for being - or appearing to be - trans. At the end, we recognize all the victims whose stories were not told, and whose names we will never know. But we never talk about what may be the largest group of victims. Violence does not always involve blows from a fist or bullets from a gun. People who take their own lives - overwhelmed by pain and driven to despair by the hatred, cruelty and intolerance around them - are just as much victims as the people whose names we hear tonight.
