I understand people were hurt and shocked by Matthew Shepard's tragic death, my qualms still remain with the media and how they do not allow us to see the real dangers and death and sadness which happens each and every day. I am writing a poem about this right now and maybe it will be done by tomorrow open mike night. I just get really frustrated with the singularity of the movement. We have so much more to grow on and learn from and respond to! Let's make another movie, let's write another book. Let's tell someone else's story. I don't think Sammy's story would be half as successful because she was a Latina minority trans girl. Who wants to hear about the person I will always love and cherish within my heart? I can tell a sob story too, but it really wouldn't sell any copies or be made into a movie.
At. 3.22 today I was sent this e-mail:
Today marks the 11th anniversary of the death of 21-year old University of Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, a tragic loss that continues to inspire our struggle to create a more just world.
Just last week, Congress approved the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act as part of the National Defense and Authorization Act of 2009, which will now go to the president to be signed into law.
Judy Shepard has recently published an intimate memoir detailing her experience in the days and months following the attack on her son, and her eventual transformation into an internationally known LGBT rights activist, The Meaning of Matthew.
And tonight, over 150 theaters across the country will perform Laramie Ten Years Later, the Tectonic Theater Project's sequel to The Laramie Project.
In conjunction with the Tucson performance of the play, at Centennial Hall on the University of Arizona campus, the 2004 documentary Laramie Inside Out will be broadcast on local PBS affiliate KUAT-TV on October 30th at 11pm. The DVD is available for purchase by community groups, educational institutions and individuals, or can be streamed directly to your desktop from New Day Digital. To learn more about filmmaker Beverly Seckinger and the making of the documentary, read this article from the Fall 2009 issue of the University of Arizona Alumnus magazine.
As the historical impact of Matthew's 1998 murder continues to unfold, educators and community activists have many exciting tools for engaging their students and communities in the ongoing struggle for social justice.
I read this message and still wonder why we commemorate an 11th anniversary of this man death.
I read articles like these all the time
1. Transgeder man killed
2. trans man killed in Turkey
3. another crime of hate
4. trans woman and boyfriend murdered
5. list of unlawfully killed trans individuals
only one of so many deaths results in a criminal conviction. and it is not from the above mentioned cases
I am so ready to get out and change the world.
I hope a lot of people come to our discussion about trans-literacy today
and learn how to help transfolk come out and be safe in this world.
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I drove to Laramie, WY, to see the debut performance of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. It was pretty good. Afterwards, there was a panel comprised of the actual Laramie citizens the actors were meant to portray, including the sheriff that directed the investigation and the Wyoming legislature representitive that was largely responsible for blocking their push to institute a statewide DOMA. It was all very, very interesting.
When they opened up the panel to the audience, I got an opportunity to ask a question. I was nervous as all get-out, as I tend to be when I draw attention to myself while presenting my gender in a nontraditional way. I wish I could have phrased it more eloquently at the time, but here's the gist of it:
"Gender and sexual orientation are often considered two separate issues; there seems to be much confusion among many people with the distinction between the two. My experience has been, however, that they are inextricably linked. In my research, I've found that the states are more willing to protect people based on their sexual orientation than they are on their gender identity. It seems that many efforts to protect the rights of both have been squashed by the inclusion of gender identity. I find this very interesting, because sexual orientation, for the most part, is an invisible status, one that can't be ascertained immediately like with race and gender. With its greater inherent visibility, why do you think it is that issues of gender are so misunderstood and underrepresented?"
More panelists responded to my question than to any other. I heard from both the sheriff and the house representitive, and they both had promising news. Both are pushing to include gender under the equal rights umbrella: the former has included it in sensitivity/awareness training on the force, and the latter has changed the language of a bill to include gender identity. She is confidant in the support the house has provided that the bill will pass the next time the legislature is in session.
Have hope, sibling. The media may not sensationalize it, but progress is being made.
And while I agree that Matthew Shepard is probably overblown (as did many of the Laramie panelists), Judy Shepard certainly cannot be faulted. I think the problem is that fear and grief overcome people. Judy devoted the last 11 years to being an activist and an advocate. She got in people's faces, she got her face out there, and she devoted countless hours to the cause. Could she have attained such good if her story hadn't been so tragic and so largely unprecedented? Perhaps not. But every movement needs a spokesperson, or a hero, or a visionary, or a symbol, and the Shepard legacy has been just that. I don't think it needs to be replaced, just augmented.
And indeed, the media is a fickle creature, but that's the nature of the beast. It was never meant solely to help us. It is meant to garner advertising dollars, and hopefully provide a public service in the process. Short of a massive, all-encompassing revolution, the best we can hope to do with such a broken system is to beat it at its own game. That's what Judy learned how to do, and look what good it has brought about.
Peace
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