This is a guest post by Marisa Richmond, Ph.D. She is the president of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC). She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Equality Project & Board of Advisors of National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). She is a former Board Member of American Educational Information Services (AEGIS), International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE), National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), and Nashville's Rainbow Community Center. She served as Co-Chair of Southern Comfort Convention in 2001, chaired the host committee of the 2002 IFGE Convention in Nashville, & served on the Planning Committee for Nashville Black Pride in 2004. She won IFGE's prestigious Trinity Award in 2002, and the HRC Equality Award in 2007.
In February 2008, she became a columnist for Triangle Journal News in Memphis and, since April 2006, she has been a regular panelist on Out & About Today on News Channel 5 in Nashville. Previously, she was a columnist for Out & About Nashville from August 2004 to December 2005 and the author of Casa Marisa, a monthly column in Transgender Community News from July 1999 to August 2004.
In 2008, Prof. Richmond was the first black transgender delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Prof. Richmond is another member of the trans community who I've asked to share their thoughts on federal hate crime legislation -- the hate crime legislation that was signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
~~Autumn~~
By Marisa Richmond, Ph.D.
The recent adoption of hate crimes legislation by the United States Government is a major step forward for the transgender community. this is the first time any positive legislation for LGBT people has ever been adopted, and for it to be fully inclusive makes this extra special.
 For years, transgender activists fought to be included in this legislation because of the ongoing level of violence against transgender people across the nation. For many of us, the darkest hour came in 2005 when nearly 40 national groups singed a joint letter to members of the U.S. Senate urging them to adopt the fully inclusive bill which had passed the House, while another group, after pledging they would fight "only" for fully inclusive legislation, both refused to sign that letter and issued its own urging Senators to ignore the House action and adopt a separate bill that left transgender people. The argument that this "strategy" was necessary to pass such a bill was bigoted and, simply, poor politics.
Today, as we stand on the edge of yet another Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Transgender Day of Remembrance, we can remember all that we lost in the knowledge that future victims of gender based violence will have those crimes aggressively investigated and prosecuted.
We should not forget, however, that the battle to end violence against transgender people has not been totally won. We still have to end discrimination in the workplace. Many communities still do not have any protections and must rely on the Federal government to take action to ensure they have a level playing field.
There is also the problem of what to do for those who live in states where there is a lack of interest in pursuing even an investigation of violence against transgender people. My home state of Tennessee is one such place. Our largest city, Memphis, home of the Blues, Barbeque, and Elvis, has become identified as the most dangerous city in the country for transgender people. I am regularly asked by other trans people if it is safe for them to visit Memphis.
The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) has a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly, SB0253 by Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis)/HB0335, by Rep. Jeanne Richardson (D-Memphis), which would add "gender identity or expression" to Tennessee's Hate Crimes statute. Currently, Tennessee is one of 38 states which does not provide protection for transgender residents. The rash of hate crimes against transgender persons, especially against African American transgender women in Memphis, make passage of this bill even more important here. Having an additional tool available to victims will make life safer for everyone and send a message that the lives of transgender people in Tennessee have value too.
We encourage everyone in the other 37 states that do not have hate crimes laws covering all LGBT people to continue the work to raise awareness of violence against all of us and to push to make sure your state laws match the federal one so that victims can pursue justice on every available front.
Thanks again to everyone across this great nation who worked hard to make sure that transgender people were not left behind and to see that the lives of transgender people are now recognized as having value.
~~~~~
Related:
* Pam's House Blend tag: Transgender Hate Crimes Essay Project |
