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Day needed for remembering murdered transgender people

Editor,

On Feb. 12, Lawrence King, 15, was shot and killed in his classroom by a 14-year-old classmate. In the same month, a black transsexual woman, Duanna Johnson, was beaten and pepper sprayed while handcuffed in a police station in Memphis, and then in November, she was found dead. In the same month, another trans-woman was murdered in Syracuse, N.Y., because they thought she was gay.

Hundreds of people each year are harassed, beaten and even killed because of their perceived sexuality or gender identity. Transgender Day of Remembrance is an occasion in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

The event is held Nov. 20. It was founded by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the "Remembering Our Dead" Web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in hundreds of cities around the world.

So, L.H. Crum, when we quit getting murdered, then we will no longer need a Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Cameron Bonham

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