It’s Transgender Awareness Week & it’s now officially the deadliest year for our trans siblings, Queer construction workers are getting back to work, & Brian Michael Smith is named one of People’s sexiest men alive. Yessss.
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Transcript
It’s Transgender Awareness Week. Now this week is observed from November 13th to November 19th, and its a one-week celebration leading up to Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes victims of transphobic violence. It angers me to report that there will be more names read this year than any year before. According to HRC, this is the deadliest year for Trans women ever reco rded. Marquiisha Lawrence (28) & Jenny De Leon (25) we speak your names today. These two women account for number 45 & 46 on the list of trans people who have been killed this year. I must say the increase is not just happenstance or a coincidence. It comes at a time where the most anti-trans & anti-lgbt legislation has been introduced & passed in state legislatures across the country. We are also living in a time where anti-trans rhetoric is amplified not just inside the walls of the state legislature but in the media as well; i.e. the Dave Chappelle comedy special and the subsequent social media diatribe of hate and misinformation.
I was reading in PinkNews that according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the annual murder rate for Americans aged between 15 and 34 is about one in 12,000. For Black trans women in the exact same age group, the rate rockets to one in 2,600, an investigation by Mic found. After the murder of Marquiisha Lawrence The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) issued a statement mourning her death, with Deputy Executiv e Director Victoria Kirby York saying, “Our trans siblings are not safe, their needs are not being met, and we all need to come together, stand with, and fight with them.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement.
Next up there is more sad news being reported about Astroworld. Ezra Blount is the latest victim to lose his life at only 9 years old and he becomes the 10th victim to transition. When I read the salacious headline I said to myself, 9 years old. What was he doing at Astroworld. Then I read on and learned he attended the concert with his dad as a father son outing. The grandfather says, “When my son went to the concert, he had my grandson on his shoulder,” Blount said. “All the people pushed in and he could not breathe so he ended up passing out because of all the pressure that was being applied to his body. And when he passed out, Ezra fell off his shoulder and fell into the crowd.” My word. If this story doesn’t just break your heart.
Now let’s put some smiles on your faces.
President Biden is expected to sign the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill today, setting in motion historic levels of funding for projects across the country. Now we know there are a lot of queers working on construction sites and this bill is putting a lot of people back to work. Come through!
Brian Michael Smith makes history as the first trans man in People’s sexiest men alive list. You betta work Brian. Now ya’ll may know Brian from his role on Queen Sugar or the character he plays, Paul Strickland on 9-1-1: Lone Star. Back in 2019 he became the first Black trans man to be cast in a regular TV role & now he’s on the sexiest man alive list. On 9-1-1: Lone Star Brian plays an out trans man and he says. “This is why I feel like I was brought in for the role because I can really pull from some authentic experiences, or even if I haven’t had the experience myself, just a deeper understanding perhaps of what the character might be going through and then filtering it through the lens of his story”. “That’s what’s exciting for me, that’s been what the work is.” You know this is why we like him.
This is our top Queer news for today and ya’ll know I always have a word. The word today is never never ever give up. When you think that’s all you’ve got left. When you are ready to wash your hands of it all. Hold on a little while longer for your breakthrough is coming. Till tomorrow family. Peace.
Sources:
LGBTQ Nation
More anti-LGBTQ laws have been passed in the last year than any other time in American history
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/05/anti-lgbtq-laws-passed-last-year-time-american-history/
Black trans woman’s “senseless” murder sets record for anti-trans violence in one year
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/11/black-trans-womans-senseless-murder-sets-record-anti-trans-violence-one-year/
Pink News
After deadliest year on record, yet another trans woman is slain in the US: ‘This is a national epidemic’
Brian Michael Smith makes history as first trans man in People’s ‘sexiest men alive’ list
HRC
Remembering Marquiisha Lawrence, Black Trans Woman With An “Infectious Smile” And A “Heart of Gold”
https://www.hrc.org/news/remembering-marquiisha-lawrence-black-trans-woman-with-an-infectious-smile-and-a-heart-of-gold
CNN
The 9-year-old boy injured at the Astroworld Festival has died, family attorney says, bringing the death toll to 10
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/14/us/astroworld-festival-child-death/index.html?utm_term=1636976082740e2756fb604d5&utm_source=cnn_Five+Things+for+Monday%2C+November+15%2C+2021&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=IyhCqhYi4URHAHYBqsDh0xc4VvUZWMKe9iAXCpWPjWc7x1WxUqX7mCICprdFNv5n&bt_ts=1636976082743