By: Tlönista

Tlönista — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:29:26 +0000

Thank you.

By: ginasf

ginasf — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:44:56 +0000

What especially bothers me with this year’s TDoR is how so many memorials are being planned concerning the Lopez-Mercado murder in Puerto Rico, and virtually all of them are identifying Lopez-Mercado as a gay man and the victim of homophobia. The reality of the murder as I understand it is she (I’m going to call her that until I definitively hear otherwise) was totally presenting as female when the accused murderer attacked her. This totally puts the crime into a category of transphobic crime. Moreover, the pattern of dismemberment and the barbaric nature of the mutilation is far more in keeping with attacks against transwomen rather than murders of gay men. So, for all the people holding memorials tomorrow for Ms. Lopez-Mercado… kindly don’t refer to her as a gay man (as people initially did for Gwen Araujo, Angie Zapata and Lateisha Green), don’t use male pronouns unless you’re positive that’s how the victim identified and don’t go on about how this was an anti-gay crime, because the accused murderer has already gone on record saying he thought the victim was female when he approached her. Don’t you dare, again, erase a victim’s trans identity to use her as a rallying cry for the gay community (as was done with Lawrence King, who extensively cross-dressed before being murdered). Let’s see, a lot of GLB orgs don’t like the TDoR because it’s such a ‘downer’ but they do want to protest the murder of yet another transwoman of color but only if she’s identified as a gay male? Interesting.

By: @nil

@nil — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:49:10 +0000

Thanks for this post Cara.

By: KAJ

KAJ — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:21:43 +0000

Thanks, Cara

Comments on: Transgender Day of Remembrance 2009

By: Tlönista

By: ginasf

By: @nil

By: KAJ