Why Transgender Day Of Remembrance Matters

By Cynthya BrianKate

This November 20th marks another observance of Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR), dedicated to raising awareness on gender-based hate crimes and honoring victims of such crimes. The statistic of at least one transgender person murdered per month in this country still stands. Our society still undervalues transgender and gender-transgressing peoples’ lives, especially in the law and the media. Killers often go unpunished, or punished in ways that blame victims. Many in the media still sensationalize trans lives and disrespect us, even our dead. The situation is improving if slowly. More people are becoming aware of and caring about these issues. We need to know the victims’ stories, especially those who have been denied justice. We need to honor the dead and work to make a better world than the one they were taken from. That’s why TDOR matters, and why I’m about to tell some of these stories, so people can keep them in mind.

This summer the second Gwen Araujo trial ended in a mixed verdict. The first time Araujo was on trial just as much as her killers. They went with a panic defense, arguing they killed her in a “crime of passion sparked by sexual deception,” blaming her for her own death because they couldn’t handle her having a penis. The first trial ended in a mistrial; the jury couldn’t decide whether they’d committed murder or manslaughter (a manslaughter verdict would’ve meant the jury believed the panic defense). Because many reporters insisted on referring to her by male pronouns and her birth name, often putting quotes around “Gwen,” Araujo’s mother had her name legally changed.

In the second trial the defense was “they didn’t mean to kill her.” Gwen Araujo had been bound, gagged, beaten with fists, knees, a soup can and a skillet, strangled with a rope and buried in a shallow grave, found only because Jaron Nabors turned in his friends for a lesser sentence. Michael Madison and Jose Merel were convicted on second-degree murder, though Jason Cazares is currently free because the jury couldn’t reach a decision, especially after the prosecutor said, “He’s not as guilty as the others.” At least two of her killers were convicted.

This January in Florida Ronnie Paris was beaten to death for being seen as gay. He was three years old, killed by his own father, Ronnie Paris, Jr. An aunt said, “He was concerned that the child might be gay.” A friend of the father said, “He didn't want him to be a sissy.” Instead Ronnie Paris won’t grow up to be anything.

In August Estanislao Martinez received only four years for the 2004 murder of Joel Robles. He stabbed her 20 times. He claimed he “suffered gay panic” when he found out Robles was transgender. As Charlotte Jenks, Executive Director of the Central California Pride Network said, “"If I just stole money from you, I'd serve more time than this person did for stabbing someone 20 times.” He got away with murder. The court excused the taking of a human life because the victim was trans.

Robert Bumenfeld’s killer, Jason Bardsley, was allowed to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree grand larceny. He claimed he strangled Bimenfeld in December because he “suffered extreme emotional distress” and “psychiatric breakdown” when Bimenfeld “lifted his dress and revealed male genitalia.” The court allowed the “panic defense” to stand.

This September Bella Evangelista’s killer, Antoine Jacobs, was allowed to plead guilty to second-degree murder. He admitted, as reported in the Washington Post, that in 2003 he “hunted down and shot” Evangelista for being transgender. Hunting someone down to kill them is a premeditated act, yet he was allowed to plead otherwise. And media coverage, straight and gay, used her birth name and called her “a man.”

Four transgender people are known to have been murdered here in Michigan. The first, Chris Muzett in Detroit, strangled with a phone cord in 1999. The second, Tamyra Michaels, shot in Highland Park in December 2002. The third, Nikki Nicholas, was found dead of gunshot wounds in February 2003 in Green Oak Township, just north of Ann Arbor.. Nicholas and Michaels may have been killed by the same person, though they died before being able to provide details. The fourth, beaten and stabbed in the throat in Grand Rapids on August 14, 2004, was Riviera Rene. The Grand Rapids Press used only her birth name. Her killers denied killing her, despite being caught with her car immediately afterward. Except for a drag club promoter who knew her, her friends haven’t come forward. The only place to report the case accurately was TDOR founder Gwen Smith’s coordinators’ email list (groups.yahoo.com/group/remembering).

Things are changing, if slowly. The House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA), expanding the definition of hate crimes to include those “based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.” California Assemblywoman Sally Lieber (D-San Jose) is pushing for a bill to ban the panic defense, saying, “As a state, we must ensure that our courts are a place where bias—whether based on race, gender or sexual orientation—does not prevent victims from obtaining justice.”

Laws are a start, but what really needs to change is the culture. The idea that murder is wrong no matter who the victim is should be a no-brainer. Trans people must be seen as people, by everybody. When trans lives are valued as equally as everyone's then we can demand that the law give justice to all and that the media tell peoples’ stories accurately and fairly, and expect it to actually happen. That is why telling their stories matters, and why I’ll be out there this TDOR as usual.