This Trans Day of Remembrance There’s No Happy Ending, and Other Reasons for Hope
They hit us where we live. That’s the point, I think. 6 years ago, on the morning of Pride, we woke to find out it was Pulse. Today, on the morning of Trans Day of Remembrance, we woke to find it was Club Q. They hit us in our moments of ritual. The ecstasy of the dance floor, the agony of the altar. The more ours a space feels, the more theirs it becomes. Death extends its tendrils into every gay bar, every hospital room, every history book. They hit us in the moments we’re most ourselves, trying to choke us not just of life but existence.
TDOR is a day when the trans community comes together to find refuge in each other, as we collectively grieve that we live in a world where death still stalks us. Death has become too big a part of life — especially in the age of assault weapons, especially on days like this, especially for people like us. The numbers tell a story for which it’s hard to find a happy ending.
49 queer lives lost in Florida that Pride weekend — all to gun violence.
5 queer lives lost in Colorado last night — all to gun violence.
47 trans lives in the United States this year — 31 to gun violence. 7 in Texas, the state with the most anti-trans legislation in the country. (30 bills filed there in a single year. 24…
