Normally, I want to try and write something powerful and moving for today, but as I watch it get worse and worse, I'm just at a loss for words. The only thing that keeps running through my mind over and over again is: This needs to stop.
For the list of those we've lost this year (or at least the ones we are aware of), check here.
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I ask that you at least take a moment out of your day to just reflect on this... and if you know someone who is transgender, just give them a hug or tell them you're there for them... or if YOU are transgender, be strong, love yourself, and don't be afraid of who you are.
Aside from murder, 41% of transgenders commit suicide each year due to being unaccepted by others. It is horrible to know these deaths occur. I pray for those who have lost a loved one due to them being transgender.
Among those who died by their own hand this year, most have heard of Leelah Alcorn, and there were many others just like her. One that I knew personally was Jessica Shipps, who died at the end of June. I was never told how, only that being discharged from the military, facing job discrimination, and losing her family were major factors, possibly one of them being the catalyst that drove her to her own death. It's tragic, and the culture needs to change. I'm feeling similar pressures myself.
I did a back-of-the-wolfram-alpha estimation. If at least 41% of transgender people die each year, and the number of transgender people stays roughly constant, then less than 0.5% of transgender people survive past age of 10, and less than 0.008% survive past the age of 18. I really hope your statistic is wrong.
It's actually "41% of trans people have attempted suicide"
Not committed it. Not each year, but over the course of their life so far. And for various reasons, not just because of lack of acceptance. Though I personally suspect that lack of acceptance is a big reason.
It's important to get this statistic right because it can really scare the people who love us when we come out, and sometimes that fear comes across as denial.
Sometimes, it's hard to be thankful for being alive... But at least, we're given the chance to live the life we deserve to. Rest in peace, brothers and sisters.
People get killed every day, for various reasons. What matters is having sufficient power to defend yourself and destroy those that would harm you. However, our fallen ones fought valiantly by having the courage of being themselves, and for that, they deserve respect. May you rest in peace and your names be remembered.
I scrolled through that list and...it was painful. So many people, shot dead for literally no good reason. It's sickening. It's terrible. It's...I can't even begin. But one thing that it isn't? Scary. Not to me. All of this cannot shake my resolve to be who I am. The odds do not scare me, having caught legends in Nest Balls, the odds haven't discouraged me for years. I will not step back in fear, even if the whole damn world wants me to.
Good...good god.
Why people can be so awful I'll never understand.
But...well, had I known what today was I'd have hugged you a lot harder. It's such a tragic waste of human life, too...
I can't promise much, but I can say I will be there for you as long as it is humanly possible. It's the least you deserve and I'd be a crappy friend if I offered anything less. The very least I can do is listen, so feel free to ask.
And here i thought Brazil couldn't get worse as far as crime rate and being an over all shitty place to live goes. Then again in many places in Brazil you're looking at a fifty fifty chance of getting mugged there just going outside, still sad though. rest in peace friends, you will be missed.
I took it upon myself to spread the word on a forum I frequent. To help spread awareness and tamp down the hate. This year has been one of the worst it just depresses me so much... Also it makes me angry, really angry... How can people hate others so much? Even more importantly though, why do people resist help protecting us trans folk so vehemently? Why do they insist on making stuff like this more common by backing transphobia? Are we really that much of a threat to them? I don't think so. These people go after innocent marginalized people who are just trying to live our lives, if traditional religion is right, there is a special and especially awful place in hell for these hate mongers.
Thank you for this, Joceleyn. It has been a very hard week, largely because of memories that always surface this week due to Remembrance, and your art... it helps.
And this is why I will forever defend transpeople going stealth and not being open. Some people are just human trash. And with the knowledge that this could happen anywhere, why take the risk of trusting anyone with a secret like that?
I'm with Sila. I had a lot of time to dwell on my mortality during my time with cancer. And regardless of whether I was trans or cis, stealth or visible, everything would have played out the same way. It wouldn't have changed the outcome; stuff like that doesn't discriminate.
Am I afraid of being attacked by some transphobic asshole? Sure. I've had my incidents where I feared it could happen too. But if I succumb to that fear, I won't be able to live my life the way I want to. I already spent the first 28 years of my life hating myself because I couldn't be me. I'll be damned if I'm going to stop being the me I want to be, because of something that may or may not even come into play.
Don't get me wrong. There's absolutely no problem with being stealth. However, in my humble opinion, if you're going to be stealth, do so because that's how you want to live your life. Life is too short, and we don't know how much time we have or how we're going. Spend your time on this earth in whatever way will make you happy.
I am unlucky enough that I was attacked for being trans (the exact words are not appropriate here), though I guess "lucky" enough that all I got from it was a fractured rib, black eye, and a couple chipped teeth.
To me, that is why I am, very specifically NOT stealth. That is why I go out of my way to help other trans folk be comfortable.
Because being able to be ourselves wherever we go isn't just something that allows us to love ourselves that much more (and every bit counts). It's our first and truest way of fighting back of those who believe that it shouldn't be a crime to harm or kill us due to their own idiocy.
I just can't. This is so awful. I went through the list and it was terrible. There were multiple people killed under the age of 18. The youngest identified age was 13. THIRTEEN. The oldest person identified was 66. Sixty-six years old. Someone stabbed someone multiple times that was almost as old as my grandmother. This has to stop...
I think I am better than I used to be, but I still am very scared. It'd be a lie to say otherwise. Some years, I only survived by thinking that I'd just cause even more trouble by dying. Cause problems by living, cause more problems by dying. That's how it felt some times.
I hope I won't regress back to that. I have a right to live, I should be allowed to choose how I live, and what I do with my body is also my choice. Other people should not have that authority.
I scrolled through the list and.. ugh.. that's all just horrible.. it does make me happy to know that we can remember them now, and that there are people who truly accept others.
Not committed it. Not each year, but over the course of their life so far. And for various reasons, not just because of lack of acceptance. Though I personally suspect that lack of acceptance is a big reason.
It's important to get this statistic right because it can really scare the people who love us when we come out, and sometimes that fear comes across as denial.
†
Good...good god.
Why people can be so awful I'll never understand.
But...well, had I known what today was I'd have hugged you a lot harder. It's such a tragic waste of human life, too...
I can't promise much, but I can say I will be there for you as long as it is humanly possible. It's the least you deserve and I'd be a crappy friend if I offered anything less. The very least I can do is listen, so feel free to ask.
I'm with Sila. I had a lot of time to dwell on my mortality during my time with cancer. And regardless of whether I was trans or cis, stealth or visible, everything would have played out the same way. It wouldn't have changed the outcome; stuff like that doesn't discriminate.
Am I afraid of being attacked by some transphobic asshole? Sure. I've had my incidents where I feared it could happen too. But if I succumb to that fear, I won't be able to live my life the way I want to. I already spent the first 28 years of my life hating myself because I couldn't be me. I'll be damned if I'm going to stop being the me I want to be, because of something that may or may not even come into play.
Don't get me wrong. There's absolutely no problem with being stealth. However, in my humble opinion, if you're going to be stealth, do so because that's how you want to live your life. Life is too short, and we don't know how much time we have or how we're going. Spend your time on this earth in whatever way will make you happy.
To me, that is why I am, very specifically NOT stealth. That is why I go out of my way to help other trans folk be comfortable.
Because being able to be ourselves wherever we go isn't just something that allows us to love ourselves that much more (and every bit counts). It's our first and truest way of fighting back of those who believe that it shouldn't be a crime to harm or kill us due to their own idiocy.
You're a true fighter, Jocelyn. You, too, have my respect.
Thanks for making this webcomic. It's not only a good thing for trans-awareness, but quite entertaining as well *smiles*
So, according to what you said a year ago, those of us who are not trans women of color do not deserve to be recognized or cared after?
Well, fuck you too and take your opinions with you.
I hope I won't regress back to that. I have a right to live, I should be allowed to choose how I live, and what I do with my body is also my choice. Other people should not have that authority.