Transgender Day of Remembrance Resource Kit for Journalists |

November 2011

Introduction

The Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors the memory of those murdered in acts of anti-transgender violence, is recognized annually on November 20. GLAAD encourages journalists to mark the occasion with stories about the pervasive problem of hate crimes against transgender people, as well as the diversity and resilience of the community in the face of harassment and violence. Local observances may vary, so be sure to check with a local LGBT Center, Gay-Straight Alliance or other support group likely to be participating.

Background

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed in late November in recognition of the 1998 murder of Rita Hester. Rita was a highly visible member of the transgender community in her native Boston, where she worked locally on education around transgender issues. On Saturday, Nov 28, Rita was stabbed 20 times in her apartment. A neighbor called the police, and Rita was rushed to the hospital. She passed away from cardiac arrest only moments after being admitted. Thirteen years later, police have still not found Rita’s murderer (or murderers).
In 1999, one year after Rita’s murder, advocate and writer Gwendolyn Ann Smith coordinated a vigil in Rita’s honor. The vigil commemorated not only Rita, but also all of the transgender people tragically lost to violence.

In addition to the vigil, Smith launched the Transgender Day of Remembrance website to recognize and remember those whose lives have been lost to anti-transgender violence. The number of those honored on the site has since grown to more than 327 people in the United States alone, with over 300 more from other countries. Organizations throughout the world — from Groupe Activiste Trans in Paris to Human Rights Commission of Tel Aviv in Israel to Diritti in Movimiento in Pescara, Italy — have since taken to recognizing the day. Media coverage of Transgender Day of Remembrance often includes documenting lives lost to hate crimes, as well as the all too frequent dehumanizing harassment, discrimination and violence that members of the transgender community encounter on a regular basis.

Violence toward Members of the Transgender Community

The 2010 Hate Violence Report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects shows violence against LGBT people increased 13% from 2009 to 2010. Anti-LGBT hate crime murders increased 23% from 2009, in which 22 murders occurred, to 2010, in which 27 murders occurred. Of the victims murdered, 70% were people of color, and 44% were transgender women. According to the International Transgender Day of Remembrance website, there have been 8 people murdered out of anti-transgender bias during 2011 in the U.S. As murders of transgender people often go unreported, and the identity of transgender murder victims is often misreported, there is no way to know accurate numbers.

At this time, 12 states, the District of Columbia and more than 125 municipalities offer hate crimes protections that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. After its signing in October 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act has made it a federal hate crime to assault an individual based on actual or perceived disability, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. This landmark legislation both mandates that the FBI track hate crimes based on anti-transgender bias and allows the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of local hate crimes based on gender identity.

This year the cycle of violence against transgender people claimed the lives of at least eight people nationally, including:

• Camila Guzman (New York, NY) who was found stabbed to death in her Harlem apartment in August
• Lashai Mclean, 23, (Washington, D.C.) who was shot and killed in July
• Marcal Camero Tye (Forrest City, Ark.) who was found brutally murdered on the side of an Arkansas highway in March
• Tyra Trent, 25, (Baltimore, Md.) who was found strangled to death in an vacant house

Crimes committed out of anti-transgender bias also claim the lives of those who do not identify as transgender. In September, the body of Gaurav Gopalan was found in Washington, D.C., beaten to death. Gopalan did not identify as transgender, but was in drag at the time of his murder.

For more stories of people who have lost their lives to anti-transgender hate violence, visit the Transgender Day of Remembrance website.

Story Ideas for Transgender Day of Remembrance

• Call attention to local victims of violent anti-transgender hate crimes. According to GenderPAC, the stories of at least 24% of victims of gender-identity-based violence have never been covered in the media.
• Highlight positive stories of transgender individuals, and the dehumanizing discrimination they have faced in their lives.  Highlight statistics from the ‘Injustice at Every Turn’ report on anti-transgender discrimination. Remind your audience that dehumanization often leads to violence.
• Anti-transgender violence isn’t just directed at adults. Statistics from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) show that in schools, 15.8% of transgender students report being physically assaulted as a result of gender expression, while 41.1% experience physical harassment. Talk with transgender youth, about their experiences growing up.
• Contact local LGBT organizations to find out how they plan to observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Many universities and high schools, through their Gay-Straight Alliances and other organizations, hold candlelight vigils or other events to recognize the day.
• Produce a feature on local individuals or organizations that are coordinating Transgender Day of Remembrance events and include information about how survivors of violence continue to contribute to their communities.
• Follow-up on unsolved local cases of transgender violence or murder to show where the investigation stands.
• Spotlight stories of tragedies that inspired community members to work for more inclusive legislation, such as hate crime laws that include gender identity. These stories of mobilized community responses to violence can be inspiring on this day of mourning.

Events to Look For

Though candlelight vigils are the most common way that local communities recognize the Transgender Day of Remembrance, events may also include:

• Marches
• Forums with local advocates
• Poetry or spoken word readings
• Art exhibits
• Movie screenings of feature films or documentaries that include transgender characters or subjects
• Representations of the number of transgender people murdered, such as tombstone cutouts, memorials with photographs, or chalk outlines

Connect with local LGBT organizations for a complete listing of events being held throughout your community. View a list of local events. By seeking out such events, you will have an opportunity to connect with local advocates.

Fair, Accurate and Inclusive Coverage

Journalism is key to increasing public awareness and understanding of transgender people and events. Opposing viewpoints on complex issues are, of course, vital to good journalism. However, there is a difference between opposing viewpoints and defamatory rhetoric that exists solely to fuel harassment and discrimination. If opposing viewpoints are necessary for a particular news story on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, please contact organizations or individuals who have a clear stake in the issue from both sides and pair them appropriately.

Sensationalizing anti-transgender violence is disrespectful and degrading to both the victim and the victim’s family, and may bias an investigation. Sensitivity to appropriate pronouns, as well as the victim’s chosen name, which may be different from their birth name, is vital to accurate coverage. Misrepresenting or making jokes about the victim’s gender identity sends the message that it is acceptable to demean transgender people. Articles such as the New York Post’s August 2011 article “Fireman busted after violently 'beating' tr*nny pal” make light of violence against the transgender community and further dehumanize the victims of this violence.

Like many hate crimes, gender identity-based violence often goes unreported. Include news reports of hate crimes against transgender Americans and other people signaled out for their gender identity and presentation in your coverage. According to GenderPAC, most gender-identity-based murders never generate sustained media coverage, averaging one single 500-word article rather than the more extensive coverage usually accorded a deadly hate crime.

While this day is a day of mourning and remembrance, it is also a day to reflect on contributions to the community and the power of survival. While commemorating those lost to hate crime violence, please also detail the contributions of living transgender people. By highlighting these stories, you will undo some of the dehumanization that has taken place in the media, and in society.

Further transgender-related terminology and explanations can also be found in GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide as well as the Associated Press Stylebook. View the Associated Press Stylebook at the AP Stylebook Web site or view GLAAD’s Transgender Glossary of Terms.

Terminology & Identification

The following guidelines will assist you as you move forward in writing stories about transgender people. Issues surrounding the coverage of transgender people can be complex and sensitive — the utmost care should be taken to avoid defamatory or offensive language in your coverage. More information on defamatory terminology can be found in the Transgender Terminology chapter of the GLAAD Media Reference Guide.

Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. The term may include, but is not limited to transsexuals, cross-dressers and other gender non-conforming people. Use the term preferred by the individual. Transgender people may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically.

Gender identity is one’s internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or a boy or girl). For transgender people, their birth-assigned sex and their own internal sense of gender identity do not match.

Sexual orientation describes an individual’s enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction to another person. Transgender people can be heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Transsexual is an older term, popularized through medical use and sensational media coverage during the 1950s-60s. Many transgender people prefer the term “transgender” to transsexual, while some transsexual people prefer to use the term to describe themselves. Unlike transgender, transsexual is not an umbrella term, as many transgender people do not identify as transsexual.

Transition includes some or all of the following cultural, legal and medical adjustments: telling one’s family, friends and/or co-workers; changing one’s name and/or sex on legal documents; hormone therapy; and possibly (though not always) some form of surgical alteration.

Identifying a Transgender Person

• We encourage you to use a transgender person’s name. Often transgender people cannot afford a legal name change or are not yet old enough to change their name legally. They should be afforded the same respect for their chosen name as anyone else who lives by a name other than their birth name.
• We also encourage you to ask transgender people which pronoun they would like you to use. A person who identifies as a certain gender, whether or not they have taken hormones or had surgery, should be referred to using the pronouns appropriate for that gender.
• If it is not possible to ask a transgender person which pronoun he or she prefers, use the pronoun that is consistent with the person’s appearance and gender expression. For example, if a person wears a dress and uses the name Susan, feminine pronouns are appropriate.
• It is never appropriate to put quotation marks around either a transgender person’s chosen name or the pronoun that reflects that person’s gender identity.

Web Resources

International Transgender Day of Remembrance:
www.transgenderdor.org

Gay-Straight Alliance Network Remembrance site:
www.gsanetwork.org/resources/dayofremembrance.html

National Center for Transgender Equality:
www.nctequality.org

Transgender Law Center:
http://transgenderlawcenter.org/cms/

Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition:
www.masstpc.org

 

Media Contacts

TRANSGENDER
National Center for Transgender Equality
Mara Keisling, Executive Director
mkeisling@nctequality.org
(202) 903-0112

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Michael Silverman, Executive Director
msilverman@transgenderlegal.org
646-862-9396

National Gay & Lesbian TaskForce – Transgender Civil Rights Project
Lisa Mottet
lmottet@theTaskForce.org
(202) 639-6308

Transgender Law Center
Masen Davis
masen@transgenderlawcenter.org
(415) 865-0176 x301

HATE CRIMES
Transgender DOR
Ethan St. Pierre
transgenderdor@gmail.com

(978) 518-1835

New York City Anti-Violence Project
Sharon Stapel
Executive Director
(212) 714-1184 (office)
sstapel@avp.org

MEDIA
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
Aaron McQuade
(646) 871-8026
mcquade@glaad.org

SCHOOL SAFETY
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
Daryl Presgraves
dpresgraves@glsen.org
(646) 388-6577

TransYouth Family Allies
Kim Pearson
kimp@imatyfa.org
(888) 462-8932

COMMUNITY EVENTS
National Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Centers
Terry Stone
terry@lgbtcenters.org
(954) 765-6024

The LGBT Community Center in New York City
Cindi Creager
ccreager@gaycenter.org
(212) 620-7310

West Hollywood TDOR Planning Committee
Gina Bigham
gbigham@lagaycenter.org
(323) 993-7632

 

Reports on Hate Violence and Discrimination

Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Violence in 2010 (NCAVP)

Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Violence in 2009 (NCAVP)

Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality)

Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. (Amnesty International)

Special Intelligence Report on Hate Crimes Against Transgender and Transsexual Women (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our Nation’s Schools (GLSEN)

A Chronology of Hate Crimes: 1998-2002 (Human Rights Campaign)