By TCN News
Sampoorna Working Group in collaboration with the the Asia Pacific Transgender Network (APTN), is commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance (#TDoR) that falls on Nov 20th, 2018. The following is their statement on the same, which was originally published here. It is being reproduced with their permission.
A Brief History of TDoR
The brutal murder of Rita Hester, a well known and much loved African American trans woman in Boston, was found with 20 stab wounds in her chest on Nov 28, 1998. This was how a day to memorialise those we have lost to violence began. Though the case was reopened in 2006, predictably it was never solved. The outpouring of grief and rage of the communities she was part of, slowly led to Nov 20th being observed as TDoR all over the globe.
The day has grown globally, to be one of acknowledgment, when trans & gender diverse people whose lives have been lost to hate crimes and violence, are remembered and honored.
Violence against Trans and Gender Diverse People in India
Not only do trans & gender diverse people, especially from oppressed caste and class backgrounds in India, have very little access to health care, shelter, nutrition, education & employment, there is also no state protection to address any hate crimes against us. The latest draft of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights Bill) 2016 goes a step further by fixing a maximum punishment of only 2 years for a wide spectrum of crimes against trans people and additionally criminalises begging, one of the few livelihood options of trans women who do street-based labour.
The impunity with which the police perpetrates violence against trans folks & hijra sisters is well known. We all remember how Tara was burnt to death inside the compound of a police station in Chennai, India, with no inquiries or action against the authorities taken.
Trans men like Pachu and Akshay Dev who we lost in 2018 were misgendered by the media and their lives and bodies were laid bare in perversely offensive ways for public consumption.
TDoR Bangalore (6)
Every year, we come together, hold candlelight vigils and remember the loved ones we have lost. Every year, the list grows longer and our hearts heavier.
This year, we would like to amplify the voices of those who are alive while memorializing the dead. We want to hear your experiences of violence if you would like to share them or your ideas for countering violence against our communities so we can make support systems that our communities need, and that which will enable us to grow old together.
This is your campaign
We invite trans people living in India to make this campaign their own.
The following is a suggested list of thematics along which, if you feel comfortable and secure enough to do so, you may want to share your own experience. If you would rather have a phone call with us, we can reach out to you.
The following is not an exhaustive list and if there is something that you would like to share that does not fall within any of these suggested themes, please do not hesitate to send them to us.
Suggested themes:
1. Violence – your own experiences or your ideas on how to combat it.
2. What does freedom mean to you? What will enable you to live your life more freely?
3. What can non-trans people do to make the world easier for trans people to navigate?
How much to write
You can write a few lines, or even up-to a page or two; we will help to convert this to an effective format for the campaign.
What language can you write in?
You can write in any language.
Your photo is not mandatory
If you are comfortable and feel secure enough to share a photo of yours, we will put it in the campaign along with your quote. But this is not mandatory. Your experience and the necessity for our societies to understand the violence they subject us to, is what is crucial.
Please send us your text/text+photo to [email protected]
You can also write to the above email id if you would like to have your testimony recorded in audio format and written down by the SPWG.
Thanking you,
Deen, Gee, Nadika, Satya
Sampoorna Working Group
Sampoorna, A Network of Trans* and Intersex Indians Across the Globe