Lambda Legal and National Youth Advocacy Coalition Condemn Senseless Violence Targeting Transgender Community

(New York, November 20, 2003) - On this 5th anniversary of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Lambda Legal and National Youth Advocacy Coalition issued a statement publicly renewing their commitment to fight anti-transgender hatred and violence.

Established in 1998, the Transgender Day of Remembrance is intended to raise public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, while publicly mourning and honoring the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten.

“Transgender Day of Remembrance serves as a time for all of us to pause and reflect that for all the progress made in our communities, transgender people are among the most vulnerable to prejudice that leads to violence,” said Michael Adams, Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. “These recent cases are more examples of the lack of respect transgender people face that too often leads to hostility.

Lambda Legal recently won the right for Vickee Gatliff and Frances Fisher, both male to female transgender women, to legally change their names to accurately reflect their gender.

For both Vickee in Georgia and Frances in New York the judges refused to grant their request for a name change because neither had completed sexual reassignment surgery. The consequences of not having accurate identification can be humiliating. For example, because Frances’ license did not match her appearance as a female, police officers at a routine car inspection groped her breasts to see if they were real.

There is no legal basis for denying name changes like this,” Adams said. “When state judges deny these name changes, transgender people are put in a double bind - judges say that they must have surgery before being granted name changes, and doctors prefer that they change names before having surgery.”

“This is a difficult day in which we mourn the loss of so many of our friends and family members whose lives have been cut short by cowards acting out of fear and ignorance,” said M’Bwende Anderson, NYAC’s Deputy Director Programs. “It is important that we celebrate the courage of every transgender or gender variant person who must face daily harassment, intimidation, and violence; and that we do everything we can to educate our communities around the real lives of transgender people,” Anderson added.

For more than a decade, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition has been working to make transgender issues an important piece of our efforts to protect LGBTQ young people. Just in the past year, transgender young people and their allies have educated media professionals in more than 150 communities using the tools on NYAC’s Action Website.

“In addition to the violence they experience, NYAC continues to be concerned about the lack of resources available to assist transgender young people in navigating their adolescence,” said NYAC Executive Director, Craig Bowman. “The Transgender Day of Remembrance is important as a memorial, but even more important is a real commitment to prioritizing the needs of transgender young people everyday,” he added.

Statement:
We regard the senseless murders of transgender people as a tragic indication that more education is needed to quell the misguided and hateful atmosphere that fosters violence.

To find a remembrance gathering in your area visit rememberingourdead.org/day/where.html

In the next few months, Lambda Legal and National Youth Advocacy Coalition plan to release a transgender youth action kit. Its purpose is to act as a guide to help transgender young people and supportive allies navigate the world and make their school as a safe place. Included are action tools, statistics, and facts designed to help advocate for change.

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, and people with HIV or AIDS through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

The National Youth Advocacy Coalition (www.nyacyouth.org) is a social justice organization that empowers its members to fight injustice against LGBTQ young people and advocate on behalf of their issues, whereby ensuring their physical and emotional well-being.

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Contact:
Lambda Legal: Lisa Hardaway, Ph: 212-809-8585 X266, Pgr: 888-987-1971

NYAC: Craig Bowman, Ph: 202-319-7596 X 15, Cell: 202-744-2567