Speech presented at the 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

Brooke Adams

Good evening. It is deeply humbling to have been asked to speak here tonight. When Kick was asked to join in the planning of this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, without hesitation I volunteered to attend the meeting. Kick is the agency for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender African-Americans and we have had discussion regarding how to be more inclusive and reach out to the transgender community. Needless to say, the invitation to join in the planning was right on time.

What I quickly realized, upon sitting down at the table, was I had a lot to learn. The extent of my knowledge ended with my viewing of the movie Boys Don’t Cry and a few made for TV specials. So… I sat and listened intently and gathered as much knowledge as I could. There were brief discussions on the ignorance and hatred that is a part of everyday life for a transgender individual. But, as the number of hate-based murders continued to rise week by week, it became overwhelming. My way of coping with feelings of helplessness, because that’s what I felt, was to gather more information so I would be better educated on what I was attempting to assist in planning.

What I learned is that a lot of the rights I take for granted become major hurdles for a transgender person on a daily basis. I learned that transgender individuals suffer from discrimination in almost every aspect of their lives.

I learned that hate crimes against transgender individuals go underreported because of a belief that you won’t be treated with dignity and respect by law enforcement. No one should feel ashamed to report a crime that was inflicted on them. Our transgender brothers and sisters need our support to stand with them, to hold their hand, and ensure that they are being treated fairly and with dignity.

I learned that my transgender brothers and sisters face discrimination when seeking healthcare. Some healthcare providers simply refuse to treat them and therefore issues and health concerns that could have easily been addressed by proper medical care result in death. All life is valuable and if they could have just gotten to a doctor who treated them with the basic respect and dignity that all humans should be afforded, they might still be here today.

I learned that something as basic as going to the bathroom presents challenges to a transgender individual while in public; particularly transgender women. I’ve witnessed this prejudice first hand when women seem almost afraid of a transgender individual going into the bathroom. I try to help them confront their fear by asking them “in their wildest dream what would be the worse thing that could happen” and without fail, the answer is illogical. Everyone deserves public space to answer one of the most basic calls of nature and our humanity is in jeopardy when we don’t understand that right. Public spaces must provide more unisex and single occupancy bathrooms to accommodate all genders.

I learned that transgender people suffer from major discrimination and prejudice in the workplace at every step of the process; starting from when they fill out the application, actually getting hired, being considered for promotion and at other times being unjustly terminated. This discrimination can happen because of the mere suspicion of someone being transgender.

This month, preliminary findings were released from a study conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The Key findings include that Transgender people experience unemployment at twice the rate of the general population, there is nearly universal on-the-job harassment for transgender people, nearly 50% have experienced significant job or career losses, and the rate of poverty is about 15% which is nearly twice the rate of the general population. A lack of stable employment and economic security affects all other areas or anyone’s life.

As of 2002, 61% of Americans polled believed that there should be laws to protect transgender people from discrimination however, 57% believed there were already laws in place that protected a transgender person from being fired. The majority of jurisdictions in America still lack legal protection in the workplace.

I learned that the ACLU maintains a website that can keep me up-to-date on the latest legal developments related to transgender rights. 2009 saw the first ever Congressional hearings on discrimination against transgender Americans and… a nationally recognized publication titled “Know Your Rights: Transgender People and the Law” was published.

Michigan successfully advocated for the City of Detroit to amend its human rights ordinance to add protections for transgender people. Michigan also worked in coalition to get state officials to change their policy requiring proof of sex reassignment surgery for change of gender marker on your birth certificate. Michigan also worked to get state Medicaid officials to change their policy of denying coverage for gender identity disorder however work still needs to be done on persuading Medicaid to cover prescribed hormone therapy.

I learned that hate crimes against transgender individuals are particularly heinous. Several years ago, experts estimated that transgender people living in the United States have a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered. Let me say that again. A one in 12 chance of being murdered. That number is astounding alone but incomprehensible when compared to the reported 1 in 18,000 chance of being murdered if you are not transgender.

Then I got a big lesson… I printed off the list of murders this year. There are 20 pages with 4-5 stories per page. 4-5 stories per page of lives lost too soon….That number is unacceptable. That number is one of the main reasons why it is important that we continue to fight for the rights of all of our transgender colleagues, friends, and family. That’s why the Transgender Day of Remembrance is critical. Critical so that we don’t forget. We don’t forget all of the Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Aunts, Uncles, Best Friends, Lovers and Spouses that we have lost and all the Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Aunts, Uncles, Best Friends, Lovers and Spouses that continue to need our support and deserve our respect and admiration for being exactly who they are. That’s why I am dedicated to taking the information I gathered and making sure it stays on the forefront of Kick’s agenda because after all, we are the agency for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual AND Transgender African-Americans. Thank you.

Presented November 20, 2009