Transgender woman Rita Hester was stabbed to death on Nov. 28, 1998. Her death was the catalyst to begin an
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This year, over 300 people congregated at Metropolitan Community Church in West Hollywood, Calif. to demand an end to anti-transgender violence and to continue the fight for equality. The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation mobilized for the event.
Representatives from transgender advocacy groups spoke about the struggles faced by the transgender community over the past year. Eleven cases were presented of reported victims of anti-trans violence that resulted in death this year.
Another struggle for the transgender community is over legislation that would further protect LGBT people against discrimination in the workplace, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. LGBT organizations have been pushing for similar legislation for decades. Initially, such legislation did not include language against gender identity discrimination. In the most recent attempt to bring ENDA to a vote, gender identity was initially included but quickly dropped.
Most LGBT organizations dropped support of the new divisive ENDA, with the notable exception of the Human Rights Campaign. HRC sought to keep its alliance with the Democrats and turned its back on the transgender community. “We had a hunch you weren’t on our side; now we know you’re not on our side,” said Valerie Spencer of the Transcend Empowerment Institute.
The HRC Transgender Day of Remembrance event in Washington, D.C. was cancelled. The group also refused to participate in another D.C. trans event.
“We must fight for what we want,” said Susan Horn of MCC Church. The West Hollywood event culminated in a march through the city and the unveiling of a memorial to the victims of anti-trans violence. “When we are strong we are not just strong for ourselves, but for all of us,” reads the memorial.
While it is true that institutional reforms may ease the burden for LGBT workers facing daily discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, the struggle taking place around ENDA is an example of the piecemeal reforms offered by capitalism.
Bourgeois politicians will always try to undermine the reforms won by workers to further divide and exploit them. The struggle against LGBT discrimination, racism and sexism must be united against the system that creates and promotes these divisions among the working class.
