Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
latest news
best of news
syndication
commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

Dedication of Transgender Memorial Ends Years of Struggle

by Carolina Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 at 2:48 PM

Last night's dedication of the Transgender Memorial in West Hollywood culminated years of planning and struggle to build a permanent monument to the dozens of Trans identified persons who are murdered each year by hate criminals.

Last night's dedication of the Transgender Memorial at Mathew Sheppard Triangle culminated years of planning and struggle by the Transgender community and the West Hollywood Transgender Task Force to build a permanent monument to the dozens of Trans identified persons who are murdered each year by hate criminals.

Shirley Bushnell, longtime activist and founder of the Task Force, who spoke at the unveiling last night, conceived the idea of a permanent plaque. It was in about 2001, about the second year that we had conducted the annual local observance of Day of Remembrance. Each November 20 our community would assemble at Metropolitan Community Church, then located on Santa Monica Blvd west of La Cienega, and march east to Sheppard Triangle, at Santa Monica and Crescent Heights.

Once we were there, however, there was no permanent memorial for us to place candles or flowers in honor of our dead. Instead there were plaques dedicated to gay men and LGBT events in general, but none specifically for Transgenders.

Bushnell observed this was not right, we should have our own memorial. This pronouncement set off years of challenge and struggle within our community and with local officials that finally culminated in our dream being realized last night.

This author can remember one cool fall evening in Silver Lake about 6 years ago, she met with Drian Juarez as part of a subcommittee that had been formed to come up with a concept for the Memorial. Drian wanted to walk her four dogs while we discussed her draft, so we ambled down to a coffee house and went over her poem and sketch of the memorial, which she said she borrowed from Native American art. After we finished and walked home, we discovered Drian had dropped her draft, and in a panic we rushed back to the coffee house, relieved to find that the draft had fallen on the ground where we had sat. This incident was perhaps a forewarning to the struggles that lay ahead.

Drian's draft was presented to the West Hollywood Transgender Task Force, and over the course of several meetings, a final draft was approved. Numerous calls were made to monument builders, who usually service funeral homes and cemeteries. We all learned how costly building even a small plaque is.

Controversies threatened to kill the whole project when the agreed to language was altered by one member without authorization, resulting in the original cast of the plaque having to be destroyed.

Eventually under the leadership of Karina Samala and Jake Finney, the Task Force was able, after two years of work with City of West Hollywood officials, to get the plaque recast with the original language, and with the raised base it sits on at Santa Monica and Crescent Heights, the whole project costs about $10,000.

Last night's dedications is still a whirl of memories to the author, from arrival at Plummer Park's Fiesta Hall at 4 p.m. to help prepare food set up for guests that would not arrive for over three hours, to passing out long stem roses to guests arriving at Sheppard Triangle at sunset, the Plaque we had struggled over for nearly a decade, still covered in a purple shroud. "One Love" declared the banner above the stage where honored guests, including Bushnell, Jarez, Chaz Bono, West Hollywood Mayor Abbey Land, City Councilmen John Duran and Jeffrey Prange spoke. This author was impressed how tidy each speaker's remarks were, contrasting with the lengthy ones we remember from past Days of Remembrance. It was as if everyone knew that this year was special and that we should not any longer delay the unveiling we had struggled so long to achieve.

The audience was particularly moved by the humbleness of Chaz Bono, who thanked us for inviting him, and said he was new to our community, and did not feel he should take up too much time merely because his celebrity might invite more attention to his personal transition, which was the similar to what all of us face.

Once the star of the evening, the Plaque, was unveiled, it gleamed in the kleige lights and all of us stopped to stare, in awe of the majesty of the moment. The Sheriff Deputies had to coax us into the street for the candlelight march eastward on Santa Monica Boulevard back to Plummer Park. Once under way, we made it a fast pace against the cool, dry evening air, all of us anxious to get some food and prepare for the inside film, speeches and reading the names of this year's dead.

There was still a whirlwind of activity when we reached Fiesta Hall. This author was quickly drafted by Karina to help serve food to the seemingly endless line of hungry guests. We had to struggle to get a bite or two to feed ourselves between servings, but managed to be done in time for the program.

Finally after the film and more speeches, the reading of the names commenced, with each reader given a script to match a slide of one or more Transgender murder victims in 2009, over 90 names this year, the largest total I can remember. It took about forty minutes for us to complete the reading, one by one on stage. This made a solemn punctuation to an incredible evening, a stark reminder that for all of our triumph in installing the Memorial, we still face a rough challenge to end hate. Ninety names this year. How many we'll we need to read on November 20, 2010 when we gather again at our Memorial?

Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


LATEST COMMENTS ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
Listed below are the 10 latest comments of 4 posted about this article.
These comments are anonymously submitted by the website visitors.
TITLE AUTHOR DATE
they are just like us, equals under the law PrionPartyy Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Christanic Terrorism Fredric L. Rice Monday, Dec. 07, 2009 at 9:38 AM
© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy