December 2, 2005

Vigils, memorials honor victims of anti-TG violence

by Anthony Glassman

Columbus--Novelist Jennifer Finney Boylan spoke to about 200 people on November 17, one of two Columbus events co-sponsored by GLBT Student Services for the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Boylan�s She�s Not There: A Life in Two Genders tells of her life-long struggle to become the woman she always felt inside.

In her memoir, she writes, �I was born in 1958, on June 22nd, the second day of summer. It was also the birthday of Kris Kristofferson and Meryl Streep, both of whom I later resembled, although not at the same time.�

The day before, 40 people attended the annual candlelight vigil at King Ave. United Methodist Church to honor victims of anti-transgender violence.

In Cleveland, the LGBT Community Center held its second annual program for the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, a day after the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland held their inaugural event.

Both Cleveland observances were made more poignant by the November 14 murder of Donathyn �Jay� Rodgers, known as Jayla while in drag. Rodgers was shot repeatedly at about 3:30 am at an abandoned gas station on Detroit Ave. Police have yet to locate any suspects.

A November 18 memorial service for Rodgers was held at the Beyond Identities Community Center, where he was a member, and a candlelight vigil and march from BICC to the AIDS Taskforce on November 19 preceded the Day of Remembrance activities.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was started to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 spawned the �Remembering Our Dead� web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Observances are now held all over the world.

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