[LMB] All Greek to Me

[Zoe Brain]

Zoe is indeed Greek, and it means "Life".

For more information on the Transgender day of Remembrance, see
http://www.rememberingourdead.org/day/

This year, in addition to the many deaths not reported as hate crimes, we
are remembering:

Nakia Ladelle Baker
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma to the head
Date of Death: January 7, 2007

Keittirat Longnawa
Location: Rassada, Thailand
Cause of Death: Beaten by 9 Youths who then slit her throat
Date of Death: January 31, 2007

Moira Donaire
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
Cause of Death: Stabbed 5 times by a street vendor
Date of Death: March 5, 2007

Michelle Carrasco “Chela”
Location: Santiago, Chile
Cause of Death: She was found in a pit with her face completely disfigured.
Date of Death: March 16, 2007

Ruby Rodriguez
Location: San Francisco, California
Cause of Death: She had been strangled and was found naked in the street.
Date of Death: March 16, 2007

Erica Keel
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Cause of Death: A car repeatedly struck her
Date of Death: March 23, 2007

Bret T. Turner
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Cause of Death: Multiple stab wounds
Date of Death: April 2, 2007

Unidentified Male Clad in Female Attire
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Cause of Death: Gunshot wounds to the chest and lower back
Date of Death: July 7, 2007

Victoria Arellano
Location: San Pedro, California
Cause of Death: Denied necessary medications to treat HIV-related side
effects.
Date of Death: July 20, 2007

Oscar Mosqueda
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Cause of Death: Shot to death
Date of Death: July 29, 2007

Maribelle Reyes
Location: Houston, Texas
Cause of Death: AIDS; Reyes was turned away from several treatment centers
due to her transgender status.
Date of Death: August 30, 2007

There may be another to add to the list, as the victim still hasn't
regained consciousness:

"This morning (Tuesday), they found Raychel. Her nightgown cut from her,
but still attached, unconscious and with her skull fractured, her left arm
broken, 6 ribs broken... and her nether regions bleeding profusely, though
wrapped in a hotel towel."

The police weren't going to investigate, calling it a "domestic dispute".
Until a witness provided a videodisc of the whole thing. Then the County
Sheriff stepped in.

It happen in early October, just a few weeks ago, in the USA.

You see, certain members of her family don't approve of transsexuals.

"One of them (4 of her cousins) admitted that two of the others had anally
raped her. His statement  "... it was okay, though, they used condoms," The
doctors had missed the trauma there because it was minor compared to the
beating she had received."

This kind of thing doesn't happen always, or even usually. It happens
enough though that we may be a little paranoid at times. That's why it's
called a "hate crime", it's not just the immediate act of violence, it's
the fear to a whole community that it is designed to instill.

It's difficult finding the correct balance between hysterical melodrama,
and pollyanna-like suppression of the facts. It's all tainted by politics
anyway. The figures on the Human Rights Campaign stating that 1 in 8
Transgender people get murdered are totally bogus, relying upon figures for
rates of TS that are nearly 50 years old, and known to be underestimates by
a factor of 10. Even 1 in 80 is too high. On the other hand, the figures
saying that people like me, who don't conceal, are 17 times more likely to
be murder victims than the normal population are probably about right. And
on the gripping hand, that still is less than the chances of being either
killed in an auto accident, or dying from the effects of medical treatment.
Most who are killed were thrown out onto the streets in their early teens
for bringing "disgrace to the family", and engaged in sex work to survive
and afford treatment. Jackson's Hole is alive and well.

Some of us do what we can to reduce the numbers, but it's difficult in 3rd
world countries. It's not even easy in the US.

Zoe