"A gender-bending thatrical ride..."
Nov. 20th, 2009 09:30 am![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglebitchI'm really struggling to understand why the Transgender Day of Remembrance seems to be such a difficult concept for cis people.
Last year, the agency I worked for had planned on putting together something of an "action piece" because Day of Remembrance is, in their eyes, "such a downer." I was away on leave when the initial planning started, and it fell to me to take on the project when I got back because the direction they were headed was completely inappropriate. I handled the organizing alone, I was given no budget, and the board of directors at the agency decided to schedule a competing program, an open bar fundraiser in one of the suburbs. "There's no overlap in the audience," I was told, "so I don't think it will be a problem."
This year, I was asked again to help organize the event, but with all my frustrations last year, and all my personal issues with Day of Remembrance in general, I told them I couldn't do it. At least I was getting paid to take on that much work last year; this year I wouldn't even have that.
Here's the programming they've designed in my absence:
I don't understand the thinking here. I don't understand the disconnect from reality. More than a hundred and sixty people were killed this year, and there are likely countless more that remain unreported. There is an epidemic of murder against trans women, particularly trans women of color and trans women living in the global south. How do you decide that the best way to respond to that is through a night of entertainment?
I have my issues with Day of Remembrance. I have issues with the fact that time after time, it's seen as a way for people who likely won't face this violence to take the spotlight once again and let everyone know how sad they are and how they're gonna do something about it, they're gonna make it better. But this doesn't even aspire to that level of problematic.
We have an event that perpetuates the idea that FAAB gender-bending is radical and fun, while at least three trans women are being murdered every week. We have an event that perpetuates the conflation of gendered performance with lived gendered experience. We have an event that most of the people being "honored" would not be able to attend due to cost. We have an event that once again centers the viewpoints and experiences of a cis audience, despite the fact that they and their society are the perpetrators of this epidemic of violence and murder.
Maybe that's where the disconnect comes in. When over a hundred and sixty women are being killed in the span of just a year, you can't blame their deaths on just a few bad eggs. There is a fundamental failure in their worldview that they can't address, don't want to address, because if they did they'd know they're just as responsible for spreading the attitudes that cause this violence to continue.
~*-*~
I won't be publicly observing the Day of Remembrance this year. It's too painful. There are too many "almosts" in my life, in the lives of the people I love. Too many "almosts" in the lives of the kids I spent two years watching out for. This morning I woke up early and I prayed. I haven't done it in a while, but I didn't know what else to do. I prayed and I cried. Tonight, I'm going to go out and celebrate my partner's birthday. This weekend, I'm heading out of town to be with friends.
And I'm going to do my best not to think about those "almosts".
Last year, the agency I worked for had planned on putting together something of an "action piece" because Day of Remembrance is, in their eyes, "such a downer." I was away on leave when the initial planning started, and it fell to me to take on the project when I got back because the direction they were headed was completely inappropriate. I handled the organizing alone, I was given no budget, and the board of directors at the agency decided to schedule a competing program, an open bar fundraiser in one of the suburbs. "There's no overlap in the audience," I was told, "so I don't think it will be a problem."
This year, I was asked again to help organize the event, but with all my frustrations last year, and all my personal issues with Day of Remembrance in general, I told them I couldn't do it. At least I was getting paid to take on that much work last year; this year I wouldn't even have that.
Here's the programming they've designed in my absence:
When SHE Was King
milDRED, the artist formerly known as DRED, will perform in Rochester to observe Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov. 20.
Performance artist Mildred Gerestant has been developing her gender-bending, misogyny-attacking characters since 1995. She will perform at 8 p.m. at Stages Theater, 875 E. Main St., Auditorium Center, third floor (in the same building as the GAGV). A reception with the performer will follow.
Tickets are $15, online at gayalliance.org, or by calling 585-244-8640.
I don't understand the thinking here. I don't understand the disconnect from reality. More than a hundred and sixty people were killed this year, and there are likely countless more that remain unreported. There is an epidemic of murder against trans women, particularly trans women of color and trans women living in the global south. How do you decide that the best way to respond to that is through a night of entertainment?
I have my issues with Day of Remembrance. I have issues with the fact that time after time, it's seen as a way for people who likely won't face this violence to take the spotlight once again and let everyone know how sad they are and how they're gonna do something about it, they're gonna make it better. But this doesn't even aspire to that level of problematic.
We have an event that perpetuates the idea that FAAB gender-bending is radical and fun, while at least three trans women are being murdered every week. We have an event that perpetuates the conflation of gendered performance with lived gendered experience. We have an event that most of the people being "honored" would not be able to attend due to cost. We have an event that once again centers the viewpoints and experiences of a cis audience, despite the fact that they and their society are the perpetrators of this epidemic of violence and murder.
Maybe that's where the disconnect comes in. When over a hundred and sixty women are being killed in the span of just a year, you can't blame their deaths on just a few bad eggs. There is a fundamental failure in their worldview that they can't address, don't want to address, because if they did they'd know they're just as responsible for spreading the attitudes that cause this violence to continue.
~*-*~
I won't be publicly observing the Day of Remembrance this year. It's too painful. There are too many "almosts" in my life, in the lives of the people I love. Too many "almosts" in the lives of the kids I spent two years watching out for. This morning I woke up early and I prayed. I haven't done it in a while, but I didn't know what else to do. I prayed and I cried. Tonight, I'm going to go out and celebrate my partner's birthday. This weekend, I'm heading out of town to be with friends.
And I'm going to do my best not to think about those "almosts".