Comments on: Can the LGBT community spare some outrage for Duanna Johnson?

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:31:48 +0000

@Angry Black-White Girl: Holly gets where I’m coming from here. My title is using “LGBT community” as shorthand for “larger mainstream LGBT community” – the nature of a title necessitates the shorthand, and shorthand often lacks nuance. That’s why I tried to make it clear who and what I was talking about in the rest of my support. I’m personally part of and connected to LGBT communities that are doing the tireless work of which you speak, so I definitely wouldn’t deny or ignore their efforts; but they’re also not the ones with the bulk of the resources, money, and media attention, and therefore not the ones I was addressing here.

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:16:03 +0000

Given that Jack is part of the “LGBT community” and is pointing out this very issue along with a number of other queer folks in the comments, I’m not sure how you could really arrive at that conclusion. It’s not like some straight people showed up and were like “hey queers, you should adjust your priorities,” ignoring the fact that there are plenty of us who DO care about these issues. The point is pretty much exactly as you put it — the “mainstream” gay rights movement is getting most of the attention. Not just attention, but dollars, press coverage, political clout. I think that seriously deserves to be pointed out, even though Jack, I, you, a whole lot of other people who commented here, and most of my own sub-community of the larger (and somewhat illusory, non-united) “LGBT population” don’t agree that marriage should take precedence over murdered trans women of color.

By: Angry Black-White Girl

Angry Black-White Girl — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:34:22 +0000

I think it’s super important to bring attention to anti-trans violence, especially the disproportionate number of transwomen of color who make up most of the TDOR list. But I also take issue with the way the title of this post assumes that no one in “the queer community” or any queer community cares about these issues. the people in the mainstream gay rights movement who get most of the attention don’t speak for all of us, and as you’ve said eloquently many times, only reflect the interests of the privileged few. gays should have the right to get married, but people who prioritize marriage rights to the exclusion of addressing queer suicide, queer drug abuse, queer homelessness, anti-queer and trans violence perpetuated within as well as from outside of queer communities don’t speak for me or for many other queer young people of color, so can we generally assign blame to the entire GLBT community for what those with the media’s attention do with it? is this not overlooking the tireless efforts of those within the community who work to end violence against transgender/variant, queer and intersex people?

By: Right to Life « He comes. He sleeps. He goes.

Right to Life « He comes. He sleeps. He goes. — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:29:20 +0000

[...] It’s estimated that a trans person dies nearly once a month; the numbers are probably higher if you count some of the Johns and Jane Does that show up and remain un-identified. A disproportionate number of victims of transphobic violence are women of color, like Angie Zapata, Gwen Araujo and just recently, Duanna Johnson. [...]

By: little light

little light — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:02:16 +0000

Let’s see how many of the hundreds of thousands of people who marched last week for same-sex marriage will show up to honor the Trans Day of Remembrance. Let’s see whether or not our cissexual gay “allies” show up to remember our dead in even a single percent of the numbers.

Especially this year, when organizations like the HRC are taking over so many of the commemorations and trying to cheer them up into ‘Transgender Awareness Day’.

By: roofingbird

roofingbird — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:04:51 +0000

Sometimes the waves are slow moving, but Google’s got it up to 13,300 today.

By: Duanna Johnson sues police department, is murdered | MetaFilter

Duanna Johnson sues police department, is murdered | MetaFilter — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:07:09 +0000

[...] raised $5,300 in four hours. There are nagging questions about the circumstances of the case and the level of coverage this case has received in comparison to Prop. 8 protests. (More coverage: bilerico, feministing, [...]

By: Natalia

Natalia — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:27:58 +0000

Jack, I’ve been in touch with Thaddeus, and he has had even more disturbing news to report on this case. Assuming he’s being forthright, and furthermore not being pranked, this case is looking even more disturbing than it already is (and it’s hard to get more disturbing than this).

If you could get in touch with me at some point via e-mail, please do so (my personal e-mail is listed with my comment, of course). I’d like to talk to you more about what’s been happening, but I don’t have all of my facts straight yet.

By: Raincitygirl

Raincitygirl — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:07:41 +0000

Donated. And very glad for the opportunity to do SOMETHING constructive, even if it’s not much. Please keep us posted.

By: Butch Fatale

Butch Fatale — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:32:23 +0000

Thanks for posting this Jack. I saw it posted in another community the other day and it’s just a sickening story. I don’t know if it sounds weird to say now, but I felt so glad that she was suing the bastards. So glad, that she was, and so enraged that for some reason that’s not enough to have the case passed to a group outside of the department she was suing. I hope her family will be able to keep up the suit on behalf of her estate. I hope there is some justice for her, and some comfort for her family.

It looks like the fundraising goal for her funeral costs has been surpassed by $3000, which I’m very glad to see.