IRSCNA: Transgender Day of Remembrance Statement -- The Irish Voice

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Date Posted: Monday, November 19, 19:54:04
Author: IRSCNA
Subject: IRSCNA: Transgender Day of Remembrance Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

19 November 2012
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

Transgender Day of Remembrance Statement

The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America issue the
following statement to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance, held
annually on November 20th.

The first Transgender Day of Remembrance was a candlelight vigil held
in San Francisco, California in 1999 in memory of Rita Hester, a
transgender woman who was murdered a year earlier. Her murder remains
unsolved. Since then, the Transgender Day of Remembrance has grown, and
is now observed in over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance exists to raise awareness of hate
crimes against transgender and gender non-conforming people, publicly
mourn and honor their lives, memorializing those who have died due to
transphobic violence, and reminds non-transgender people that
transgender and gender non-conforming people are their children,
parents, friends, and partners.

The guiding principles of the Transgender Day of Remembrance: "Those
who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it" (Santayana);
All who die due to anti-transgender violence are to be remembered; It
is up to us to remember these people, as their killers, law
enforcement, and the media often seek to erase their existence;
Transgender lives are affirmed to have value; We can make a
difference: by being visible and speaking out about anti-transgender
violence, we can effect change.

Every year, there are many transgender and gender non-conforming
people who are assaulted and murdered because of who they are. Often,
these victims of violence are also members of other oppressed groups.
Transgender and gender non-conforming people of color are especially
likely to experience physical violence.

The Irish Republican Socialist Party became the first political party
in Ireland to support equality for transgender people in a motion
passed at its 2000 convention, which stated, "The IRSP affirms its
commitment to full equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and
transgender people."

As the North American representatives of the IRSP, the IRSCNA has
long championed equality for transgender people, and has had and
continues to have transgender members, and we call on our members and
supporters to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance and to work
toward a safe world for transgender and gender non-conforming people.

As revolutionary socialists, we recognize that this requires more
than just reform, it also requires a revolutionary change in society.
Full sexual and gender liberation for all people can only happen if
existing social institutions are abolished and the archaic values
they represent are swept aside with them. While working toward that
goal, we must also do what we can to make the world safer for
transgender and gender non-conforming people now.

We demand an end to violence and discrimination against transgender
and gender non-conforming people, and we demand an end to transphobia
from some gays, lesbians, and certain feminist tendencies.

We demand that the medical and psychiatric establishments stop
enforcing sex/gender apartheid through the creation of false diseases
and the denial of medical care. We oppose so-called "reparative
therapies" which propose to "cure" sexual and gender diversity,
seeing them as another form of violence against LGBT people.

Further, we believe that the social pressures placed on people to
conform to narrowly defined gender roles must be combated and
eliminated, to advance the liberation of all people.

We believe each human being has an inherent right to define their
gender and to make decisions about their bodies based on those
definitions.

In conclusion, the IRSCNA stand in solidarity with transgender and
gender non-conforming people on the Transgender Day of Remembrance,
and we mourn the loss of so many lives to violence perpetrated in the
name of hatred and bigotry.

###

Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
PO Box 5174
Champaign IL 61825
USA
irscna@irsm.org
<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irscna.org/">http://www.irscna.org/</a>
<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irsp.ie/irscna.html">http://www.irsp.ie/irscna.html</a>

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