Sometimes it's swept Under the RUG

[alr2903]

an unsung Matthew Shephard, from Our local paper
Did you mainstreamers hear about this one, The footage of her booking in the police station was on the new channels this summer.............-Transgendered murder victim mourned at vigil
By Jody Callahan (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Sunday, November 16, 2008

About 75 people marched through the Cooper-Young neighborhood on a cold Sunday night in memory of Duanna Johnson.

Johnson, 43, died after being shot in the head at Hollywood and Staten in North Memphis last Sunday.

Johnson, a transgendered person originally known as Dwayne Johnson, became well known after she was beaten in February in the booking area at 201 Poplar after an arrest on a prostitution charge.

Memphis Police officers Bridges McRae and James Swain were fired when Johnson’s attorneys released a video of the beating to local media.

Sunday’s 6 p.m. vigil began at the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center and continued down Cooper to First Congregational Church.

After the marchers reached the church, three speakers addressed the gathering.

“I keep encountering people who ask me... how could you mourn her? My only response to that is, how could you not?” said Amy Livingston, one of the organizers of the march. “In Duanna’s memory, we must pursue justice. ... "We cannot let this go unresolved"......................................... I thought the forum might appreciate this sad story from the local paper. Her murder remains unsolved. alr2903

 

[alr2903]

PRESS RELEASE

(November 20, 2008)

Today is the 10th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

(St. Petersburg) Today, Equality Florida honored the 10th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. Each year, the Transgender Day of Remembrance is held on November 20th and represents an opportunity to remember those who have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence and hatred.

"This year is one of the worst on record for the number of hate crimes in the transgender community," said Nadine Smith, executive director for Equality Florida. "Today, we honor the memories of our transgender sisters and brothers lost to hatred and prejudice."

According to the organizers of the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, there have been 14 known transgender people murdered during 2008 in the U.S. alone. This included the highly publicized murder of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old California student who was gunned down in school by his 14 year-old classmate.

As murders of transgender people are often under reported, or the identities of transgender murder victims are misreported, there is no way to know the actual number of transgender murder victims.

According to the Florida Attorney General's Hate Crimes Report, physical assaults against LGBT people in Florida have increased in 7 out of the last 8 reported years. Also during 2006, the most recently reported year, Florida saw a 71% increase in physical assault hate crimes against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 led to the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials across the nation.