transgender | Not in Our Town

transgender

Not in Our Town is pleased to share a video about a Transgender Day of Remembrance event, which took place at Oakland City Hall on November 20, 2013.
The San Jose State University-appointed task force assigned to study discrimination in the school’s dorms has issued a list of recommendations to improve diversity and inclusion in their on-campus community, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The task force was established in the wake of a series of incidents against a black student by his three dormmates, who are now being charged with hate crime offenses. The roommates’ alleged abuse included referring to the student by a racist nickname, putting up a Confederate flag in the dorm, and barricading him in his room after they fastened a bike lock to his neck. Three of the four students involved in the alleged abuse have been expelled. 
In November, a high school student wearing a skirt was set on fire on an Oakland, CA city bus. Sasha Fleischman identifies as agender and prefers to go by the pronoun “they.” In the weeks after the hate attack, many conversations ensued about hate and acceptance alongside dialogue about the way we talk about gender. Here, Mazique Bianco explores gender terms directly, pointing to the empathy and compassion in each of us. By Mazique Bianco At a sun-drenched table at a cafe in Oakland, I listen to two people next to me  discussing a hurt they have experienced. I’ve joined their table as a stranger in the packed cafe. I feel an affinity with them. One of the two friends gets up and the person next to me meets my eye. I ask them if they are going through something difficult, and their face breaks open into more softness.
Photo Source: JanetMock.com   On Tuesday, members of New York City’s LGBTQ community came out to mourn and stand in solidarity with Islan Nettles, a transgender woman who died following an attack in Harlem.
Amnesty International activists march in Paris' annual Gay Pride parade
  Despite steady growth in bullying research since the 1970s, the subject of gender and sexuality in relationship to bullying has largely been ignored. Yet this topic must be examined in order to make schools safer and more inclusive for all students.   The following are excerpts from the Prevention of Bullying in Schools, Colleges, and Universities Report conducted by The American Education Research Association on latest gender-related bullying research and how we can stop it.   Gendered harassment is any unwanted behavior that enforces traditional, heterosexual gender norms. It is related to, and can overlap with, bullying. Forms of gendered harassment include sexual harassment; homophobic, biphobic, or transphobic harassment; and harassment for gender-nonconformity (Meyer, 2008, 2009).   State of Knowledge  
Learn why silence is a powerful tool forsocial change and direct action.PHOTO BY gslen.org
From Washington Blade: Transgender Remembrance Day was observed at the Metropolitan Community Church of D.C. on Tuesday. (Photo by Michael Key) They held candlelit vigils and film screenings. They read the names of victims and marched in the streets. Across the country last week, groups of people came together to remember the victims of anti-transgender violence, whether that was in small gatherings like in Winona, MN or in formal discussions with staff members from the White House. Transgender Remembrance Day is recognized around the world as a day when victims can speak out and others can stand up to the violence that continues to plague this community. The day was created in honor of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in Allston, MA, in 1998. Allston and other Boston neighborhoods remembered Hester last week in a series of events. Read more about the effort spearheaded by local churches to continue the conversation about anti-transgender violence in Massachusetts.
“Regardless of whether she was Eddie or Gwen, she was still my kid.” —Sylvia Guerrero, Gwen Araujo’s mother Today is the International Transgender Day of Rememberance. Groups around the world are preparing marches, candlelight vigils and film screenings to memorialize transgender victims of hate crimes.  On this day, we remember Gwen Araujo, a transgender teen who was murdered in 2002. After Gwen was killed by local youth in the Silicon Valley suburb of Newark, high school students, residents and civic leaders respond, and in so doing, they struggle with how to deal with a brutal and preventable crime. Their efforts are captured in this 5-minute film: "Staging a Response to Hate" is part of Not In Our Town: Northern California. You can find the DVD and free educational guide here. To find a local remembrance event near you, visit http://www.transgenderdor.org/.