"You mother fucking transsexuals, get the fuck out of my neighborhood!"

[Chris Mason]

I attended the Boston Transgender Day of Remembrance last night. It was very moving. The speakers were great. The MC, Judah Abijah Dorrington, was amazing. After the speaking programing we lit our candles and walked down the street in the 25 degree weather to Union Square. We read the names of the transgender victims that had been killed in Massachusetts and around the world. There were far too many names. One of the organizers said there were more names of trans people killed this year than any year before.

Next, we walked to Rita Hester's old apartment building. She was killed 10 years ago this month. About 100 of us gathered around the front steps she used to climb to enter her home. We read her name and lit a candle. We had a moment of silence and then started to make our way back to the church.

Just a few feet from Rita's old home, where we had just placed a candle, a young man opened the window of his 3rd floor apartment. Curious about all the people walking by with candles, he called out, "what is this about?"

Someone answered him, "transgendered victims."

He paused and then said, "fuck that!" and closed the window. One of the participants respond, "fuck you."

A few seconds later he opened the window again, stuck his head out, and yelled, "You mother fucking transsexuals, get the fuck out of my neighborhood!"

It was surreal.

Many of the people I was walking with started to yell at him and some ran over to his door, urging him to come down and fight. An organizer quickly got people moving along again. Some of the woman around me joked that it wouldn't be a complete day if no one yelled at them. I stood still, watching and waiting, in case he came downstairs and tried to start a fight. He did not.

We continued walking back to the church for the promised hot chocolate and cookies. As we walked, the girl next to me was crying. It was a steady sobbing the whole way back. She was being comforted by her friend. The tears must have been freezing to her cheeks.

It is hard to describe what I felt when I heard that man yell. He wasn't talking about me. He wasn't yelling at me. As a gay man, I was not being verbally attacked. I thought about how I would have felt if he had yelled, "You mother fucking faggots, get the fuck out of my neighborhood!" I thought about how much that would have hurt. I thought about the difference between the L's and the G's and the B's and the T's. I thought about how much more difficult the T's have it than the LGB's.

I thought about what a totally inclusive LGBT community would look like. I realized how much it hurt me when I heard that man yell. I realized that he was talking about me, that he was yelling at me, that I was being verbally attacked. I am part of this queer community and any attack on my community is an attack on me. As a white gay male, I am the most privileged individual of the queer community. This means that I have a profound responsibility to stand up and fight for those who are less privileged.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was very moving, and the man who yelled really drove home the point. There are members of my family who are being hunted. I must, all of us who are privileged, must do whatever is in our power to fight for our queer family members.

[Kasey]

I'm trying hard to keep that incident from being my strongest memory of the day. Part of me wishes that we could have had a group of eight or so folks peel out from the rest of the crowd and wallop the hell out of that guy. I certainly think I would have felt better. But, fortunately, it's not about what I want, it's about honoring the memories and lives of those we lost and pledging to end hate and violence. I certainly wonder where our police escort was then, but I probably shouldn't have expected my experiences with cops to become positive just because it would have been convenient for a cop to do the right thing. I just try and think about the fact that with a crowd of our size, we could have destroyed his entire life if we wanted to...but, more than anything, he just wasn't worth our time.

We had cider waiting for us, after all.

[Chris Mason]

That man yelling really cemented my commitment to fighting transphobia. That is the positive side.

[Dale Marie Edwards]

Thank you for this. I stayed at the rear of the march after reading Rita Hester's name, and all we heard from the back was some muffled yelling. It is very sad to have this sad reminder of actual intolerance within our actual Day of Remembrance. I was going to say more from Rita's doorstep, but I looked at all the freezing faces in front of me and cut it short to just a symbolic reading of her name and the moment of silence. Thank you for coming, and this wonderful posting about the event.

[QueerToday]

We were with you in spirit in San Francisco. About 100 of us gathered and then marched to city hall.

[Michael]

I second everything that Dale said; I was near her at the back, so I just heard muffled yelling as well. But what you've written here is absolutely wonderful. It'd obviously be better if such incidents didn't happen at all, but as long as they're happening, it's important to know that something - anything - positive is coming out of them.

Contact http://masstpc.org/ if you're looking for ways to get more involved with the local Trans community and movement. :)