It’s Transgender Day of Remembrance … and enough is enough.
[[link removed]]
Hello,
As long as I can remember, I’ve always felt like a girl. I was never conflicted
about it, but society and everyone around me said that what I felt and what I
knew to be true was wrong.
It’s been a long hard fight, but I feel so blessed to be the woman and the
artist I am today — with a platform I never imagined I could have.
But my visibility means nothing without purpose behind it. That’s why I am
reaching out.
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance and, this year alone, we’ve lost at
least 22 trans or gender non-conforming people to senseless acts of violence. Of those murdered, 91 percent were Black trans women like me — and more than 80
percent were under the age of 30.
Being transgender today can feel like living a life in crisis, especially if
you’re also a Black woman. We enter the world every day never knowing if it’ll
welcome us, or if it’ll take away our jobs, our homes or even our lives.
No one deserves to live like this. Not you or me … and certainly not the more
than 150 trans and gender non-conforming folks we’ve lost to fatal violence
since January 2013.
This violence is an epidemic nationwide. And it’s time we address it head on.
[[link removed]]Just this week, the Human Rights Campaign released a distressing, yet important,
report: A National Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in the United States in
2019
[[link removed]] . In it, HRC looks at the lives lost this year and details the contributing
factors that led to their tragic deaths — read it and share it with your loved ones so they’re informed, too
[[link removed]] .
Then, we must demand action — from lawmakers and law enforcement, to the media
and in our communities. Nothing will change until we recognize and tear down the
toxic racism, sexism and transphobia that deny so many in my community access to
housing, employment and other necessities to survive and thrive.
Now more than ever, transgender and non-binary people need you to have our
backs. I am here today with my friends at HRC proudly by my side ... speaking up
and out in our commitment to ending this epidemic.
I hope you’ll use your voice and commit to ending it, too.
[[link removed]]
Shea Diamond
Singer and LGBTQ activist
Pronouns: she/her/hers
P.S. Local volunteers are hosting memorials all across the country to remember
those we’ve lost. Check if there’s one near you and RSVP if you’d like to pay
your respects.
[[link removed]]
[[link removed]] Donate
[[link removed]] Take Action [[link removed]] Shop [[link removed]] Join Us
[[link removed]] [[link removed]] [[link removed]] [[link removed]] [[link removed]]©2019 All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy [[link removed]]
Human Rights Campaign | www.hrc.org
1640 Rhode Island Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-3278
Phone: 202-628-4160 | TTY: 202-216-1572 | Fax: 202-347-5323
Your support is important to us. Please contact us so that we can respond to
your questions or comments. Please do not reply directly to this email. This
email was sent to
[email protected]. If this was forwarded to you, join our list here
[[link removed]] .
Unsubscribe from HRC emails
[[link removed]]