In a country where equality is preached, and freedom and justice for all is promised, minorities still face the harsh reality of America— for the Trans community, this is the case for freedom of expression and identity.
Transgender men and women, especially of color, have received hatred for decades, even from other members of the LGBT+ community. What people fail to realize is that transgender men and women are human too, and deserve our outmost respect and care — and in fact, they were the ones who founded the LGBT+ movement.
March 31st is Transgender Day of Visibility, a day where we honor the fight transgender men and women have gone through to reach to where the trans movement is today. These men and women are some of the bravest people anyone could have the privilege of meeting: being able to come out to those around you is a challenging and nerve-wracking issue. No one ever knows how the peers around will react— and in most cases, for trans women, this has ended in violence.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 26 trasngender women died in the U.S. due to hate crimes in 2019 —and the harsh reality is, these numbers don’t do justice at all to what trans individuals truly face in terms of discrimination: the number of trans individuals killed in the U.S. is higher. Most of these hate crimes go unreported or undetected due to police officers using the wrong pronouns and brushing off cases. Many other countries with much more violence have higher counts.
Variety reports that transgender women of color have a life expentancy of 35 years — less than half of the usual life expentancy for a straight white man. This number is ludicrous, unfair, and reflects the reality of hatred and identity repression that the trans community faces. Something must be done to increase that number and make life better for those who are suffering.
Transgender men and women don’t just die: they are killed — and they are killed in painful ways. In countries such as Brazil and Venezuela, transgender men and women are burned to death, raped and mutilated, shot multiple times. It’s horrendous how the world has allowed this treatment to continue.
There is simply an unproportionate hatred towards transgender people, especially transgender women of color— and there should be no hatred all. And the worst part is, other LGBT+ groups, instead of supporting the fight of Trans individuals and lifting each other up, have picked up the nasty habit of putting the trans community down.
That is why today, on March 31st, many wear the colors blue pink and white proudly to represent those who have fallen so others could live. Without the T in LGBT+, the gay rights movement would not have even begun. We can thank trans women like Marsha P. Johnson for the rights that the gay community has. It’s time we honor the fight so many transgender men and women have put up, and it’s time the world mourns for the lost lives.
No more deaths, no more.
Trans lives are human rights — and as such, they too matter.
