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Transgender Day of Remembrance observed on Capitol Hill

Congressional resolutions draw attention to record anti-trans violence

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From left, Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) (Washington Blade file photos by Michael Key)

As the nation observes the deadliest recorded year ever for transgender people on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, members of Congress are lending their voices to raise attention to anti-trans violence.

Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), chair of the Congressional Transgender Task Force, introduced a resolution in the U.S. House on Monday to recognize violence against transgender people.

ā€œOur nation has lost too many transgender Americans to targeted, bigoted violence in our communities,” Kennedy said. “With this resolution recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance, Congress can commit to confronting these tragedies and protecting all of our citizens.ā€

In addition to recognizing the Transgender Day of Remembrance, the resolution calls for enhanced federal data collectionĀ of anti-trans violence andĀ encourages federal and state governments “toĀ study, respond to, and prevent violence againstĀ transgender people.”

The original co-sponsors of the resolution are Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Donald McEachin (D-Va.), RaulĀ Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) as well as Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

At least 25 transgender people were killed throughout the United States in 2017, making it the deadliest in history for anti-trans violence since those numbers were recorded starting in 2013. According to a report for theĀ Human Rights Campaign,Ā 84 percent of the transgender people killed this year were people of color and 80 percent were women.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim in Congress, had already introduced a resolution in September against anti-trans violence, specifically noting violence against transgender women of color.

Ellison said in a statement Monday theĀ TransgenderĀ DayĀ of Remembrance “takes on even more significance” in 2017 as a result of the significant rate of violence against transgender people.

“We alsoĀ recognize that the victimsĀ of this violence are almost allĀ transgenderĀ women andĀ transgenderĀ women of color,” Ellison said. “This is an importantĀ day, but we should not consider our jobs done because we’ve observed this oneĀ day. Instead, we must commit ourselves to the principle of liberty and justice for all and ensure everyone is safe to live and thrive in their community.ā€

Ellison’s resolution observes transgender women of color are more likely than white transgender women to face mistreatment by police, an assumption they’re sex workers and incarceration in prison.

Among other things, the resolution calls for ending racial profiling in law enforcement practices; ending the practice of placing transgender people in solitary confinement; andĀ ending the practice of immigration detention for vulnerable populations, including transgender people.

Co-sponsors of that resolution areĀ Grijalva,Ā Kennedy as well as Rep. BarbaraĀ Lee (D-Calif.), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), MarkĀ Takano (D-Calif.)Ā and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.).

Ellison also produced a video recognizing the Transgender Day of Remembrance and the record amount of anti-trans violence in 2017, issuing the call that transgender protections rescinded under the Trump administration be restored.

Also on Monday, theĀ LGBT Congressional Staff Association hosted in front of the U.S. Capitol an event recognizing the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Participants held a moment of silence and read the names of the transgender people killed this year.

Attendees included Bishop Allyson Abrams, founder and current pastor of Empowerment Liberation Cathedral, andĀ Kory Masen of the National Transgender Center for Equality.

Todd Sloves, president of the LGBT Congressional Staff Association, said in a statement the organization is “proud to stand with the transgender community on and off Capitol Hill.”

ā€œOn Transgender Day of Remembrance, we want to demonstrate that there is strong support for the transgender community at the center of our nationā€™s capital, where the decisions that influence the direction of our nation are made,” Sloves said. “We can never forget that members of our community continue to be targeted for who they are. Today and every day we stand up to say they will not be forgotten and discriminatory and violent behavior against the most vulnerable within our community will not be accepted. We look forward to making this an annual tradition until there are no names to read.ā€

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Maryland

Trone discusses transgender niece

Blade interviewed Md. congressman, Angela Alsobrooks last week

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U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) (Photo public domain)

Editor’s note: The Washington Blade last week interviewed both U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. The full interviews with both Democratic candidates for retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)’s seat will be on the Blade’s website later this week.

Maryland Congressman David Trone last week discussed his transgender niece during an interview with the Washington Blade about his U.S. Senate campaign.

Trone, who is running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), on May 1 told the Blade during a telephone interview that his niece transitioned when she was in her early 20s. Trone also noted she attended Furman University, a small, liberal arts university in Greenville, S.C.

“I was concerned about how she would be able to transition there,” said Trone.

Trone, who founded Total Wine & More, attended Furman University as an undergrad and is on the school’s board of trustees. Trone told the Blade he donated $10 million to the university to “build out their mental health capacity, which I felt was a way that she could have the best mental health care possible when she worked her way through (her) transition.”

Trone’s niece graduated from the university after she spent five years there.

“She had a great relationship with Furman,” said Trone.

Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are the leading Democrats running to succeed Cardin. The winner of the May 14 Democratic primary will face former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in November.

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District of Columbia

200 turn out for ā€™Love Festā€™ Drag Story Hour at Freddieā€™s

Performer reads stories to kids and parents as three protest outside

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Freddieā€™s hosted a ā€˜Love Festā€™ Drag Story Hour on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Between 200 and 250 people, including parents and their children, turned out on Saturday, May 4, for a ā€œLove Festā€ Drag Story Hour brunch hosted by the Arlington, Va., LGBTQ establishment Freddieā€™s Beach Bar and Restaurant.

Local drag performer Tara Hoot, who read childrenā€™s stories and handed out coloring books to the kids attending the event, was joined by members of the Gay Menā€™s Chorus of Washington, which sang several songs before Hoot began reading from childrenā€™s books in keeping with the tradition of drag queens conducting Drag Story Hour events across the country.

The May 4 event at Freddieā€™s in the Crystal City section of Arlington took place four weeks after the start of a similar event hosted by Freddieā€™s was delayed by a bomb threat, forcing those who had arrived  to exit through a rear door and wait in a parking lot as Arlington police conducted a search of the premises with a bomb sniffing dog. No trace of a bomb was found.

All the customers, including parents and their kids, were invited back inside and the show took place as planned.

Tara Hoot entertains at ‘Love Fest’ on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

No similar threat occurred at the May 4 event. But three male protesters assembled on the sidewalk next to the parking lot behind the Freddieā€™s building, with one of them shouting from a bullhorn passages from his Bible that he said indicated the Drag Story Hour event was an ā€œabomination.ā€

The three protesters were outnumbered by nearly a dozen counter protesters who were  members of the Rainbow Defense Coalition, an LGBTQ organization. They carried bright, rainbow-colored umbrellas while chanting messages of support for the Drag Story Hour event.

Freddie Lutz, Freddieā€™s Beach Bar owner, called the event a ā€œsmashing successā€ that brought an ā€œoutpouring of love from the community.ā€ Lutz released a flier on social media promoting the Love Fest event shortly after the earlier event interrupted by the bomb threat as a showing of love “to stop the hate.”

“Join us for the next story time brunch dressed in your favorite rainbow/hippie outfit” and “carry your favorite homemade signs of support,” Lutz said in his promotional flier. He came to the event dressed in what he called his hippie protest outfit.

Lutz said while the protesters did not interrupt the event, he was concerned that their shouting was scaring some of the kids as they and their parents walked by the protesters to enter Freddieā€™s.

ā€œI went out back and tried to talk to one of them and it was kind of like talking to a brick wall,ā€ Lutz told the Washington Blade. ā€œHe was screaming at the parents that were crossing their kids on the crosswalk,ā€ Lutz said. ā€œAnd I said, youā€™re screaming at those kids, youā€™re scaring them.ā€

Lutz said the man told him he was yelling at the parents, not the kids. ā€œAnd I said, no youā€™re not. The kids are hearing you. Youā€™re scaring them.ā€

Added Lutz, ā€œAnd to have such a fun-loving, happy show and then walk out on the sidewalk to that is very disheartening. Itā€™s really sad. I told him my God is a forgiving and loving God.ā€

One of the protesters, who declined to disclose his name, said he and his two fellow protesters came to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

ā€œWe want them to know this is an abomination to the Lord,ā€ he told the Blade. ā€œWe want them to know those children donā€™t have a voice and theyā€™re being brainwashed in there. Weā€™re here to call out their sin.ā€

A protester stands outside of Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. flanked by several LGBTQ rights supporters. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Stephanie Krenrich, who brought her two-year-old daughter to the event, said she strongly disputes the claims of the protesters.

ā€œI brought my daughter here because I think that it was a beautiful and wonderful show, and it was great for her,ā€ she said. ā€œAnd I think itā€™s pretty offensive when people come to Arlington and tell parents what to do, especially for something so beautiful and so fun and so wholesome,ā€ she told the Blade.

ā€œSo thatā€™s why I brought her,ā€ Krenrich said. ā€œI think that itā€™s really important that we stand up for our values and people just being themselves, being happy and being them.ā€

Among those who attended the event were four elected officials from Arlington ā€“ Virginia State Sen. Barbara Favola, Virginia State Del. Adele McClure, Arlington County Board member Maureen Coffee, and Arlington and Falls Church Stateā€™s Attorney Parisa Dehgani-Tafti.

Also attending was Nick Benton, editor and publisher of the LGBTQ supportive Falls Church, Va., News Press; and Kellen McBeth, president of the LGBTQ group Equality Arlington.

ā€œIt was fantastic to see so many people come out to support Freddieā€™s, to support the LGBTQ+ community,ā€ McBeth said. ā€œIt was a great event and weā€™re happy to be a part of it.ā€

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District of Columbia

Another successful Taste of Point fundraiser

Scholars praise financial, networking support

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Taste of Point was held last Thursday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Point Foundation hosted its annual Taste of Point DC fundraising event on Thursday with nine participating restaurants, a drag performance, and a silent auction. 

The event was hosted on the rooftop of the Room & Board on 14th Street, with an afterparty at Shakers. Point donors, scholars, and alumni circled the rooftop eating chips and guacamole from Mi Vida and drinking Pinot Grigio from Barkada. 

After about an hour of mingling the events began with event committee member, Kelly Horton and Kevin Kim Wright, chief of staff welcoming the crowd and speaking about the importance of their presence during this pivotal time in queer youth history. Then, Wright welcomed BIPOC Scholar Katherine Guerrero Rivera, saying she was a model of a Point scholar. 

ā€œWeā€™re always impressed with all of our scholars and Katherine is another example of a student who is deeply engaged in their campus life and a myriad of projects, everything from creating her own podcast to being a part of a number of student organizations.ā€ Wright said. 

Rivera said that the Point Foundation scholarship helps her resist the pressure to drop out. She pointed out that just over 50 percent of Latina students who attend college graduate. 

ā€œThe Point BIPOC Scholarship is not just financial support, Point has connected me with hundreds of people like me studying on campuses across the country.ā€ she said.

Rivera is a criminology major and poetics minor at University of Maryland and said she hopes to use her degree to bring knowledge to her community through art and advocacy. She said it is important for her to take academic jargon and make it accessible to her community. 

ā€œToo often, the history of LGBTQ and people are ignored and silenced during our education,ā€ she said. ā€œI want to use my access to higher education and the chance to develop my creative skills to bring light to societal issues.ā€

She finished her speech with applause for the audience, then Horton came back with drag queen Tara Hoot to discuss ways donors could continue to support the Point Foundation. 

After the lineup of events Wright said he felt great about the event, because it was a celebration of Pointā€™s scholars. 

ā€œSome are interning for United States senators, some are volunteering for leading national non-profits, so to be able to celebrate all thatā€™s being done here is truly amazing,ā€

Wright continued, thanking the D.C. restaurant community for consistently showing up in force to support Point. 

ā€œThis really helps to paint the picture that this movement is growing,ā€ he said. ā€œPeople believe in this mission to provide LGBTQ young people with the opportunity to pursue their higher education goals, to improve their leadership abilities and then go on to make a significant impact on society.ā€

CLICK HERE to see more photos from Taste of Point.

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