The following was not first written as a post on this website. This was first utilized as a speech given at a memorial for those lost in 2019.
About a year ago I remember feeling totally and completely trapped. Today is Trans Day of Remembrance, and I feel like I need to make myself just a little bit more visible right now, to stop feeling that way.
My name is Megan. I use she/her pronouns. And I am transgender.
Trans Day of Remembrance is about remembering those we lost to anti-trans violence. To see who we’ve lost this year please go to [tdor.info]
I’m tired of fighting hate with love because quite honestly I’m fucking pissed. I’m pissed because of the silence surrounding my community- no, my family. I’m pissed because where I live is among forty two states still allowing someone I love to murder me and testify that my “transness” was too much of a burden for them and that’s enough to let them off the hook for manslaughter. We are being attacked daily, constantly, and because so many people want to pretend our community doesn’t exist, to them, our deaths don’t either.
A child growing up with a (mostly) ignorant family, having to deal with her sexuality, her gender, her traumatic experiences, and the ignorance and hate around her should not also have to deal with the fact that her life expectancy as an American transgender woman of color is thirty five. Thirty five. As of the day I am writing this, I am now at the turning point where I have now lived through exactly 51% of my life. As you read these names today, keep in mind that they could just as well be any one of us, and for all we know they will be unless we do something.
If you’re thinking that this sounds like a cry for help, you’re damn right it is. My trans family needs all the help it can get, because this… is not normal.
This is in front of us. There are still a lot of people out there who want to hurt us. We make so much positive change in the world and spread so much love, but all people will try to do is tear us down and that just sucks. Every Trans Day of Remembrance people tell me to stop living in the past, but I’ll only start doing that when I get the promise of a brighter future.
Thank you. I love you all.
