“Forgotten,” reads the Toronto Star headline
describing the homeless situation in Toronto (November
7, 2006). Homeless people
are only one marginalized group who are forgotten in this city and
societies around the world.
The word forgotten can
be used to describe homeless people, Indigenous people, people with
disabilities, Trans people and the list goes
on. This month Trans people have a day of remembrance to
commemorate their forgotten people.
November 20th is referred to as Trans
Remembrance Day, according to public educator Jazzmine
Manalo of the 519 Church Street Community Centre. It started in 1999 in San Francisco after the brutal death of Trans woman Rita Hester. Hester, of Boston, Massachusetts, died of cardiac arrest
brought on by multiple stab wounds to the chest; this and other forms
of brutal violence are not uncommon in the death of Trans
people.
Manalo says, “We remember
someone who meant something in our lives or who was brutally
murdered. Each and every
city has its own interpretation of Trans Remembrance Day. Some cities only remember people
who were Trans. In Toronto we look at the whole
picture: homelessness, sex work, colour,
class etc. We look at all
forms of oppression that comes with the violence.”
Mara Pereira, Exec at Large of LGBTOUT,
sees November 20th as “a day to look back, to realize how far
we’ve come and how far we have to go.” Alex MacFadyen,
Consignment Co-coordinator and Sidelines Buyer of Toronto Women’s
Bookstore, says that November 20th is “important because there is
not a lot of visibility around Trans issues.”
The 519 start their celebration around 6
p.m. A small memorial happens in the
auditorium where friends and family gather. Opening remarks are said
followed by song, dance, poetry and dedications to the deceased. Candles are then lit in
commemoration of those who have passed on. Kyle Scanlon, the Trans Program
Coordinator, organizes the memorial.
Remembering
Our Dead at
http://gender.org/remember,
created by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, lists the hundreds of Trans people who have died at the hands violence. The site shows that this is a
global problem:
Donald Pierce of San Diego California was killed in 1990 while
being purposely dragged by a car.
Giuseppe Mandancini
of Sicily, Italy was killed by a hitman hired by his father in 1993.
Dayana Nieves of Carabobo, Nicaragua was murdered by two men in
2000.
Chandini of Bangalore, India was
burned to death in 2002.
The site also lists many as “unknown,” who have died
without their identities known in New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Columbia, Spain, Brazil, Indonesia, Guatemala, Malaysia, Japan, and the United States.
Smith writes on the site that “[t]here
is no safe way to be Trans,” and that the media, which never
cover Trans issues fairly, refer to Trans people as
“freaks.”
According to Smith, one Trans person a
month has died over the last decade. So why is there such
stigmatization and violence?
Manalo says that “the stigma
comes from society saying that this is how a man should look like and
this is how a woman should look like.” Pereira says that “people
just don’t get it…they get the gay thing which has now
become tokenism… acceptable… or at least they get what
it’s about… bi[sexuality] has a way to go.”
MacFadyen, who has been chased with a
bat and who has had bottles thrown at him, describes other types of
violence that Trans people go through: medical
and judicial violence.
Medical violence comes in many forms. The Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV), which psychiatrists use to
diagnose mental illness, classifies Trans
people as having a Gender Identity Disorder. The DSM also classified
homosexuality as a mental illness until that was changed in the late
1970s.
MacFadyen says that Trans people and Trans issues are “pathologized” by the medical establishment,
and that Trans people are “required to jump through a lot of
hoops and say specific things to be qualified as Trans.” MacFadyen
went on to say that he and several of his friends have been “dehumanized
in examinations by endocrinologists.” Pereira says the Medical
establishment has “difficulties dealing with Trans
issues.” She provides
examples such as “women who have prostates and Trans men being
pregnant.”
On October 1,
1999,
Mike Harris cut Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) from OHIP. Only $125,000 a year was being
spent and Harris cut it without consulting medical professionals. This puts people who are already
marginalized in society in a more difficult position. Pereira asks “How are Trans students on OSAP going to get money for
surgeries?” Manalo says that “oppression rises in
notches. Trans
people born with money face less oppression. Add homelessness, poverty, colour and other things and you get a completely
different life.” Here are some costs that Trans women who choose
and can afford to transition pay:
Breast Implants $
6,000 – 10,000
Hormones: Estrogen and
Androcur $
1,200 – 1,500 per year
Orchiectomy (Castration) $
3,000 – 5,000
Voice Surgery $
2,500 – 4,000
Adams Apple Removal $
3,000 – 4,000
Sex Change – Vaginoplasty $
20,000 – 35,000
Sex Change (legal
certificate) $
250
Change of name (legal
certificate) $
250
Judicial violence also comes in many
forms. MacFadyen
says that “Trans people are not people
under the law.” Manalo says that Trans
people cannot get legal aid sometimes because of issues concerning
identification. Concerning
immigration issues, Manalo states that
“it’s tough if you’re Trans, of colour,
and have no status.
It’s like passing through the hole of a needle to prove
that it’s not safe for you to be wherever you come from.”
Apart from the above there are so many
difficulties with being a Trans person. MacFadyen
says that “something you face every day is being told that you
shouldn’t be who you really are.” He describes negative responses
from people as being “at best upsetting and at worst winds you up
dead.”
Regarding difficulties at U of T, Pereira says that washrooms are the
biggest problem. She has heard of people being hassled in washrooms but
does acknowledge that there are many gender neutral washrooms at U of
T. She has not met too many
Trans people at U of T but has heard of
stories where professors are not understanding of Trans issues. “Most struggles are
bureaucratic,” she says.
When asked what they want people to know, Manalo, MacFadyen and
Pereira said:
1) To understand that the way sex has been
constructed as a binary is false
2) Gender is not something that you are, it
is something that you do
3) The system has to change because there are
more genders out there than just male and female
4) There are as many ways to be Trans as
there are Trans people; don’t pathologize
5) Sex is between your legs and gender is
between your ears
6) Trans people are human beings
7) Deal with it
What can allies do?
1) Do not make assumptions about a
person’s sex or gender
2) Be informed about things to do and not to
do: terminology and etiquette
3) Listen and take people at face value
4) Be careful about pronouns you use
5) Think outside the 2 boxes (male and
female)
6) Start dialogue
7) Vote for political parties that support
Trans people and Trans concerns
“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat
it.”
-George
Santayana
