22 Year Old Trans Woman Shade Schuler Murdered in Dallas, Reported As Male By Police and News Networks

On July 29th police in Dallas, Texas found a body dumped in a field, the body was so badly decomposed that it has taken them two weeks to be able to identify the body.  The body was that of 22 year old trans woman of colour Shade Schuler.

Despite finding Shade presenting in women's clothing when the police petitioned for help identifying the body they described her as male.

Unfortunately this misgendering has continued even now that Shade's identity has been confirmed, completely disrespecting her identity and her memory.  Dallas Morning News this morning released a story describing Shade as male, along with the DPD news release on her story.

It was Trans Pride Initiative's Nell Gaither who confirmed that Shade was transgender.

'Several of us spent time verifying she was trans and trying to learn more this afternoon and evening,” Gaither wrote on Facebook Tuesday night. “Her name was Ms. Shade, and she was only 22 years old. … Our hearts and thoughts are with her family and friends who now must confront this unfortunate taking of life. May we find space in our hearts to celebrate her time with us and the lives she touched. May we find inspiration in this loss to work together, trans and cis alike, to end the violence that has taken so many of our trans siblings from us far too soon.'

Shade marks the 13th trans person to be killed in just the US alone this year, surpassing the number of killings in America for the whole of 2014.

The number of trans women, and trans women of colour especially, being murdered in on the increase, and the number of news reports that still refuse to give those women the respect that they deserve by addressing them with their correct names and pronouns is staggering.

These are women being targeted and killed for being who they are.  They are not men.  They have never been men.  Stop disrespecting their memories, show them some common human decency and respect their memories.

Goodbye Shade, our hearts go out to you and your loved ones.

#HerNameWasShade

Amy.
xx

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Amber Monroe Found Murdered, Becomes 12th Trans Woman Killed in US This Year

Reports have just become to come in this morning that twenty year old Amber Monroe has been found shot and killed in Detroit.  Amber was a black transgender woman, making her the 12th trans woman to be killed in the US this year alone.

Her death was reported by Equality Michigan;

'The body of 20-year old Amber Monroe was found murdered in Detroit this morning. Early reports claim that she was shot, but information is still developing and no details have been released by the Detroit Police Department.

Amber was a black transgender woman barely 20 years old who studied at Wayne State University, and loved her friends and Vogueing.

“Our hearts are heavy with grief that we have lost another vibrant member of our community too soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of Amber’s family and friends whom she clearly loved deeply,” said Yvonne Siferd, Director of Victim Services for Equality Michigan.

“We have no idea yet whether this attack was fuelled by transphobia, but we do know that Amber’s murder is the 12th murder of a transgender woman in the United States this year, and the 10th murder of a transgender woman of colour. Transgender women, and especially transgender women of colour, are disproportionately affected by violence.

Her life was just beginning; I know that this loss will leave so many people with a hole in their lives and with more questions than answers. Let’s come together to celebrate her life, and work for real change so that our transgender sisters can be free from persecution. I know we can do better. We have to do better.'

Amber is the latest in an ever expanding series of victims of transphobic abuse and murder.  The 12th trans woman killed in the United States since the beginning of 2015 she is also one of dozens of women killed globally.  

Despite people's views that things are getting better for trans women, that we have more media representation, that our rights are increasing, the harsh truth of the matter is the number of trans people, especially trans women of colour, that are being brutally murdered simply for being transgender is not slowing down, if anything it is increasing.  

Amber was a beautiful young woman, barely twenty years old, with her entire life ahead of her, yet she had that life cut short.  I say this to myself every time I see one of these reports, every time I write that we've lost another of our beautiful sisters, but please let this be the last one.  Please stop killing us.

#HerNameWasAmber

Amy.
xx

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20 Years After Tyra Hunter Has Health Care Gotten Better For Transgender People?

It feels mildly appropriate that the 20th anniversarry of the death of Tyra Hunter has fallen on the same week that the #TransHealthFail hash tag has been highlighting the poor treatment transgender people have to face when dealing with medical professionals.

For those unaware, Tyra Hunter was a twenty four year old African-American transgender woman, who after being involved in a traffic collision as a passenger was left to die by emergency medical technicians and ER staff after they discovered that she was transgender.

Tyra was insulted and and received derogatory comments from both EMT's and hospital staff and had treatment withdrawn from her for nothing more than being trans.

The people responsible were found guilty in court in 1998 and Tyra's family was awarded compensation due to breaking of the Human Rights Act, negligence and medical malpractice.

Twenty years is a long way for society to progress, and many of you might be thinking that following what happened to Tyra things must be much better now right?  Well, if the accounts of mistreatment highlighted by trans people just this week is anything to go by, no, things haven't got much better.

From the tweets that I myself have seen thankfully no one has spoken about anyone dieing due to negligence, but the sheer amount of disrespect, refusal of treatment and lack of compassion people have reported means that things aren't really too different now than when Tyra was left to die.

As reported in a previous article, trans people have been reporting numerous acts of being intentionally misgendered and dead named even after expressly telling medical staff correct names and pronouns.  People have been publicly humiliated in front of other medical staff and the public.  They have been refused treatment, even when asking for help with issues that have nothing to do with being trans.  They have been told that they are simply delusional by psychologists and therapists.

Some of the experiences faced by trans people when applying for medical care.

None of these things are what anyone should have to go trough when seeking medical treatment, especially when their have been proven cases, like Tyras, where it shows that people die because of treatment like this.

The world is patting itself on the back for how far we have come, for the progress of the LGBT+ community, for the new rights we have received.  But no one wants to address an issue as massively important as trans people being allowed to suffer because medical practitioners simply have no concept of how to help us, or are letting personal prejudice cloud their view.

Tyra Hunter wasn't the first trans person left to die in her hour of need by people who swear oaths to preserve life, and she isn't the last.  We can't delude ourselves, things haven't gotten any better for the trans community when our lives are on the line.

Amy.
xx

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Historically Accurate Stonewall Film Needs Support

As much as the terrible whitewashing and trans erasure of the Hollywood version of Stonewall is a bad thing, and judging from the responses on line potentially the start of another trans/poc riot, one good thing that has come from it is the amount of people now talking about Stonewall and the real history that happened there.

The good news is, you're not the only pones who want a historically accurate film, and one is on the way.  An independent film called 'Happy Birthday, Marsha!' is currently in the works and fill focus squarely on the trans women, drag queens and people of colour who actually played pivotal roles in the riots rather than fictitious white men.

Written, directed and produced by an actual trans woman of colour, Reina Gossett, and starring trans women of colour the film aims to be as historically accurate as possible and represent the people who were actually at the riots.

Directors Reina Gossett and Sasha Wortzel

In a statement released by the film makers they say;

'We truly believe how we tell the stories of our heroes matters, so we are drawing upon our community to make this film because we have an opportunity to make a movie written, directed and produced by people living Sylvia & Marsha's legacy through our work.  It's been 45 years since the Stonewall rebellion yet the leading role that street queens, trans women of colour and gender non-conforming people had during the riots hasn't received the recognition it deserves.  By making 'Happy Birthday, Marsha!' we are seeking to change that.'

The film has been so dedicated to be as accurate as possible that they even sent out a casting call for actual trans people of colour to audition for the film, rather than recasting them to white actors or actresses.

The casting call sent out to find actual trans women to play important roles.

The film is now in the stages of post production but still needs our support in order to see the project reach completion.  They are seeking donations to help them bring an accurate depiction of this massively important historical event to screens, rather than letting people be brainwashed by the trash being produced by Roland Emmerich.

Please, head over to their website and if you can donate to help the cause, and if you can't donate then share the message with others and get them the support they rightly deserve.

Amy.
xx

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Transgender Actress Bethany Black To Appear In Doctor Who

The BBC has announced that transgender actress and comedian Bethany Black will be appearing in an upcoming episode of the 9th series of Doctor Who, making her the first transgender person to ever appear in the shows massive 52 year history.

After the announcement Black took to Facebook and Twitter t9o celebrate the news with her fans, posting an image of her beside the Tardis, and even wrote 'Now to sit back and wait until the Daily Mail realises the BBC have cast an openly trans lesbian in a family show.' on her Facebook page.

Black has previously appeared in the critically acclaimed queer drama Cucumber and Banana last year, which was created by Russel t Davies, the man responsible for returning Doctor Who to our screens.

It is so far unclear if Blacks character in Doctor Who will be trans or not.

Amy.
xx

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Stonewall Movie Erases Black Trans Women And Drag Queens From History

Ask most people who are a part of the LGBT+ community and they will have heard of the phrase Stonewall.  Some will conjure images of the Stonewall organisation, but most will be aware of the historical Stonewall Riots after which the organisation is named. 


The Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests against the police by the LGBT+ community in New York in 1969.  Many site the Stonewall Riots as the single most important event that led to the LGBT+ liberation movement in America, and the foundation upon which all modern LGBT+ rights are founded upon.


The Stonewall Riots have become so recognised as the pivotal LGBT+ equal rights event that in 2013 American President Barack Obama used it in the same sentence as Seneca Falls and Selma, two major points in history for female rights and black rights respectively.


With Stonewall being such a major part of the LGBT+ struggle, and a major piece of modern history it was inevitable that a film about that struggle would be made, especially when LGBT+ rights are such an important battlefield in todays society.


As such today we were given the first full trailer for the film 'Stonewall', from Hollywood director Roland Emmerich.

Now, some of you might be excited by that trailer, some of you might be looking forward to seeing the film, but some of you might be quite angry too.  To those that are unaware their is some level of controvecy regarding Emmerich's version of historical events.

The trailer, claiming to be a 'true story', tells the audience that a young, white, cisgender, gay man was the first to throw a brick and start the Stonewall Riots.  In truth, real historical truth based on hundreds of eye witness accounts and documented evidence that Roland Emmerich seems to have completely skipped over or simply ignored, the riots were started by black drag queens and transgender women.

Yep, sorry eager film audiences but you're waiting to watch a lie.  The film that is being depicted as the historical telling of one of the most important moments in LGBT+ history is completely ficticious.  Yes, the riot actually happened, that's not made up, but everything else in this film appears to be.

The two people most credited with sparking the riots and paving the way for modern LGBT+ rights were Marsha P.Johnson, a black drag queen, and Silvia Rivera, a transgender woman.  It was not a cisgender, white, gay man named Danny.  The two people who are universally recognised as starting the riots aren't even in the film!

For those of you who might not think that it's such a big deal, that it's just Hollywood tweaking a story to make it work on film a little better, shut the hell up!  It is important.  If you went to see the film Selma and they'd cut out Martin Luther King Jr. and instead had the march being led by Jackie Chan you'd probably think that there's something wrong there.

Changing history like that is wrong.  Hollywood and Roland Emmerich are trying to take away the accomplishments of these two women, and others like them, and give it to white men, yet again.  Not only is it historically innacurate but its totally god damn disrespectful. 

This film is a slap in the face to the people who took part in the riots, who fought in the streets for your right to be treated like a human being.  It's an insult to the LGBT+ community, to trans people, to drag queens, to women and people of colour.  Hollywood have taken our moment of major historical significance and told us that the only way people will care is with a white man as the hero, that the only way change really happens is if a white man fights for it.  Hollywood's hero complex at its absolute worst.

Do not support this film, do not promote it, advise it or even go and see it.  It's a whitewashing, tranphobic piece of cinema that wants to crap on an important historical moment. 

Amy.
xx

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#TransHealthFail Revealing Serious Concerns in Transgender Health Care

A new hashtag as been making the rounds in the trans Twitter community today, #TransHealthFail.  The hashtag, which was started by MyTransHealth, has been encouraging transgender people from all over the world to share some of their medical experiences.

The results have been amazing, with hundreds of people sending in their stories, unfortunately the things they're saying seem to be almost identical, health care systems all over the world don't know how to treat trans people and continually insult, demean and endanger patients.

Reports range from front of house staff who misgender and dead name patients without care for their well being or dignity, doctors who refuse to treat trans people and even therapist who specialise in gender issues who refuse to accept patients gender identities.

Medical professionals are vitally important to the transgender community, without them trans people are trapped in bodies that aren't their true selves.  we're forced to go through life pretending to be someone that we're not, treated as different from who we really are on the inside because people can't get past what we look like.

Medical treatment to assist with physical transition is massively important, without it the damage that could occur to the trans community is unthinkable.  However, based on some of the tweets that I've seen today it looks like a hell of a lot of trans people are having to face those kinds of struggles already.  If people are being humiliated, treated like they're crazy, refused medical treatment, medication and psychological help is it any wonder that so many transgender people report suffering from depression, or that the suicide rate is so disproportionately high.

Society as a who has a long way to come in order to treat trans people the way we deserve to be treated, but its also apparent that even the medical community is lacking in the sympathy or the awareness that they need in order to treat trans people.  Things need to start changing.

Amy.
xx

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Norwich Pride - My First Pride Event

Last week was the first time I had ever attended a Pride event in my life.  To be honest, I knind of feel a little ashamed saying that.  Despite not figuring out I'm trans until I was into my twenties I've known I'm Pansexual since my early teens, yet in all that time I'd never been to a large scale LGBT+ event in order to celebrate that fact.  Despite being a little nervous about what to expect I grabbed my trans flag, slung it over my shoulders like a cape and set off for a day of festivities.

Norwich didn't disappoint.  Not only was the pride event itself full of happy and helpful organisations, people willing to chat and make friends, and more rainbows then the senses could handle, but it seemed like the whole of Norwich itself was in the mood to celebrate LGBT+ spirit.  From local coffee shops such as Mustards Coffee Bar (which had an amazing rainbow cake by the way), National Banks like Halifax, International chains like Starbucks and even the City Council Chambers were decked out in rainbow flags and messages of support.

That's what struck me most about the whole thing, the big community spirit that the event encouraged.  So many people were their to make friends and celebrate the diversity of the LGBT+ community, event staff and stall holders, attendees, even passersby in the street.  Other than one lone man with a crucifix who tried to protest the parade before being surrounded by supporters and drowned out their was no one around who tried to make any kind of trouble at all.

For someone who came from a fairly small town where I couldn't walk through the streets without having abuse or threats shouted at me this positivity was somewhat alien to me.  But it was a good thing.  I'm not isolated, I know that theirs a larger LGBT+ community out there, just the fact that I'm writing this article for people to read shows that I'm a part of that community even in a small way, but actually seeing that community in person, being their and feeling it, that was something amazing.

Pride is important for this reason, it helps you to know that you're not alone.  Even if you're active on line, or at a local group being part of the LGBT+ community can be incredibly lonely.  Even when you're surrounded by people you can feel completely isolated.  Even on my best days I sometimes feel that way.  Pride helped me with that.

It didn't matter if you were gay, lesbian, trans, pansexual, gender fluid, bisexual or straight, if you were a part of the community or a supporter than you were accepted, you were amongst friends and you were safe.  That feeling of being part of a larger whole has never been stronger for me than since my first Pride.  Obviously I knew that there were other LGBT+ people out their, but I never felt it before.

If you've never been to a Pride event before then please, try to go along to one.  It doesn't matter if you LGBT+ or not, if you believe in the cause or you need encouragement that you're not alone in the world, that their are other people who understand and accept you then go along.  Pride events are important not just to celebrate our diversity and show the world how amazing we are, they're also their to help the community too.

I know one thing, I'm definitely going to more Pride events in the future, and I can't wait until my next one.

Amy.
xx

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Nigerian President Shuts Down Questions On Gay Rights In US Supreme Court

Muhammadu Buhari, the new president of Nigeria, visited US Congress yesterday (Wednesday 9th July), where he shut down any questions on marriage equality in his home country.

Speaking at a joint session of the senate and house committees on foreign affairs during his four day visit Buhari said emphatically that gay sex would remain illegal in Nigeria and is found to be 'abhorent' to African culture.

Femi Adeisna, the president's special adviser on media and publicity, later tweeted to clarify Buhari's stance.  'The issue of gay marriage came up here yesterday.  PMB was point blank.  Sodomy is against the law in Nigeria, and abhorrent to our culture.  Talks shifted to another matter once PMB emphatically stated Nigeria's stand on same sex marriage.  The issue was not pushed.'

Nigeria has one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the entire world, which bans gay marriage and can punish any same sex couples with up to 14 years in prison, with 10 year sentences being applied to anyone else who was involved in the ceremony, including guests in attendance.

Last week US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that the US would be mounting substantial pressure on the Nigerian government to rethink its harsh laws, though these pressures would appear to not yet be in place is they could not even press the issue during Buhari's visit.

Amy.
xx

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Disabled Transgender Woman Recorded Her Stepfather Raping Her

It has been revealed in a Melbourne court hearing that a disabled transgender woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, used her i-Pad to film her stepfather raping her.

The woman, who is confined to a wheelchair, was reportedly in her kitchen in her home when her stepfather began to assault her by grabbing her breasts and thrust himself onto her.  when he left the room the victim set up her tablet device to record what she knew would be coming next.

Detective Brad Beale testified to the courtroom that the victim had previously refused to have sex with her stepfather a week before, but was left bleeding when he ignored her protests and raped her anyway. 

Beale went on to inform the court that the woman's stepfather had admitted to having sex with the victim close to 30 times over the last 6 years, but claims that his stepdaughter had propositioned him and threatened to to make false police reports if he refused.

The stepfather has been denied bail and the case will resume in October.

Amy.
xx

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