Dear Friend,
Today is the Trans Day of Remembrance and Resilience. Every year, on this day, our community honors those we’ve lost to transphobic violence and bigotry. But we also celebrate the beautiful lives and resilience of our trans siblings.
I’m a woman of trans experience from Mexico. I was forced to flee for my life because of my political activism and sought asylum in the United States. Instead of receiving protection, I was unjustly detained and abused by ICE for 50 days.
Now, seven years later, I have a full time job as a Care Coordinator in a clinic and am a full time student of Languages and Political Science. I also partner with Immigration Equality to advocate for the release of all LGBTQ and HIV-positive people from detention. Too many of my trans siblings have gone through what I have, and some haven’t survived.
One of them is Johana Medina Leon, an HIV-positive trans woman from El Salvador who died after a month in ICE custody. She repeatedly asked for medical help and was denied. She was finally released and sent to a hospital the day before her death.
Today, I remember Johana and I invite you to celebrate her life. Like me, she fought for her life by leaving a country where she was attacked for who she was. She was brave. She was strong. She was a nurse with a loving family. Her courage should be an example for all of us.
That is why Immigration Equality’s work freeing trans immigrants from detention is so critical. Trans immigrants are survivors. We are resilient. Trauma is a part of our story, but it’s not all of it. We make our communities stronger every single day with our talents and by being who we are.
Join me in looking back with tenderness on those we’ve lost and looking ahead to a brighter future for trans people in the U.S. and around the world. Allies must be vocal about the rights of trans people—not just when one of us dies, but so that we can keep on living.
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