My Friends, Karen's message below was written before last night's murderous rampage in Colorado Springs that killed and injured over 2 dozen patrons at an LGBTQ+ nightclub. As I read her words yesterday, I found them powerful. Today, they are also tragically timely and heart-wrenchingly poignant.  

-KC Hanson, Democratic Party of Oregon Chair

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance; a day on which the names of those killed because their gender identity wasn’t the norm are read aloud to help reinforce their humanity, their individual expression of good, and their right to life. It is solemn, sorrowful, and hopeful—and carries deep meaning for friends, family, and society. It expresses our basic humanity and empathy. It demands that we continually strengthen our collective humanity by examining ourselves and society to expose these prejudices and eliminate them. Those of us who are a part of one or more identity minorities, including women, the otherly abled, and transgender folks, are more likely to suffer indiscriminate violence than those not so labeled. Violence against another because of their minority status begins in thought. It is an aggressive mental suggestion most often emanating from our immediate influencers and from a society that claims a hierarchy of power and goodness based purely on whether we come from the top tier of the power structure or from a minority. It emanates from baseless othering that leads to fear of the other, and it is in thought where the answer lies.

Democrats are a big tent party, and these prejudices live, known and unknown, amongst our membership, as they do in all society. This prejudice is why it is important to keep lines of communication open, to listen carefully to our friends, neighbors, and even opponents when they say they are experiencing discrimination we don’t see, when they say we are a part of perpetuating that discrimination, and to offer this fact-based criticism in ways that do not shut down our lines of communication.

We are all doing the best we can, and when we know better, we do better. Let’s help each other know better. Be gentle with those that have suffered harm through an inherently biased power structure. Be gentle with those that unknowingly perpetuate this harm, and be willing to do the self-examination and learning involved in doing better. When we treat each other with respect and willingness to learn with humility, all of society benefits. Today, let’s make the world a bit better. Join me today in locating and exterminating an unseen bias in thought, whether against an individual or group.

And, while every minority has its collective story to tell, today, let’s focus on transgender persons who lost their lives because they were expressing their own concept of self. We honor their lives; they mattered.

I love and respect you all.

In humility,  
Karen Rippberger, Chair
Stonewall Caucus