Lighting a Candle For the Trans Community
Shedding light on the unjust treatment of people who are transgender
In an emotional ceremony last Thursday, dozens of participants at the Housing Works East New York Transgender Day of Remembrance lined up to light a candle in honor of transgender people who have died. This event was one of many across the country dedicated to remembering transgender people who are killed each year, as well as those that face brutal discrimination off all kinds on a daily basis.
“We’ve lost so many people because of hatred,” said Bianca Candall, a Housing Works Transgender Health Services client. “We need to be heard.”
In addition to the candle-lighting, the ceremony included prayers by the Rev. Charles King, music from the East New York gospel choir and a reading of “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou.The ceremony was dedicated to Rachel Harden, a member of theHousing Works transgender community who died this month of natural causes.
Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1998 to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28, 1998 kicked off the Remembering Our Dead web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder—like most anti-transgender murder cases—has yet to be solved.
Silicone danger
Transgender women in particular face special risk factors for death. One major killer highlighted at the vigil was silicone poisoning. Often transgender women receive illegal silicone treatments to change the appearance of their hips, breasts and face in order to appear more feminine. These women can die when silicone is injected directly into their arteries. The continuous build-up of silicone also has longterm effects.
Housing Works case manager Tracy Bumpus said that she has known three women in the past year who have died from silicone poisoning.
“All the girls who get it swears it’s safe,” Bumpus said. “They say, ‘I’d rather die looking like a woman than live looking like a man.’"
To join the Campaign To End AIDS Transgender Group, go to C2EA_Transgender-US-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
For more information on the Housing Works Transgender Program and to see the Transgender Awareness PSA, go to http://www.housingworks.org/services/health-care/transgender-health-services/.
Dazon Dixon Diallo of SisterLove in Atlanta, GA raises her fist in unison with Stand Against AIDS participants.