Trans Day Of Rememberance

Today is International Transgender Day Of Remembrance, a day to honor those people we’ve lost to violence and suicide.

This year is especially poignant with the avalanche of anti-trans laws across the country and the incoming Trump administration. 45 different anti-trans laws have been passed, in Texas they’re offering $10,000 “bounties” for anyone who turns in a person for using the restroom that reflects their gender identity, and not the gender they were assigned at birth.

Sadly many trans comrades are still stuck in states that have made it clear they are not welcome there. These people are going to and have been looking to escape, and Denver is considered a safer destination.

Our wonderful Trans community has been stepping up to help these new people settle into our city, but we can only do so much. Groups like T.C.P. (Trans Continental Pipeline) have been overwhelmed with requests for relocation, and many of our community members already are struggling to survive. Many people come to Denver with few belongings and connections and end up on the streets. It’s time the City Of Denver steps up to help our houseless trans comrades.

Denver claims to be a “Sanctuary City” for trans people, yet when you look at houseless services in Denver, trans people seem to be left out of the picture. Not only do our comrades have to struggle with all the vitriolic hatred and disinformation aimed at our community, but they also have to deal with surviving on the streets of Denver. Denver has ZERO queer-based services for our houseless trans community.

All of our congregate shelters and many non-congregate shelters are run by religious charities with known track records of anti-queer views. Although they are required to allow trans people into shelters that match their gender identity, they do nothing to guarantee the safety of our houseless trans community while inside. Due to this, many Trans people turn to sleeping on the streets, or turn to sex work for a warm place to stay.

Sadly this doesn’t decrease the amount of violence and hatred houseless trans people face everyday. This last June during pride month, Denver Police executed a houseless BIPOC trans person having a severe mental health crisis. Even after calls came in saying they were in the road yelling at passing cars, “hit me, kill me”. Instead of a mental health team being dispatched, D.P.D. showed up, and within 12-15 seconds of exiting their vehicles they tasered them 3 times, and shot the 12 times killing them.

Then left their body on the hot asphalt for 4 hours. Sadly these officers were all never charged and found to have been in the right. Even though the body cam footage shows otherwise. It is time the city of Denver steps up, and lives up to its claim of being a “Sanctuary City”. This entails creating a queer-based, queer-run shelter and center with services specifically based around the issues our houseless queer community, such as:
• help with transitioning/gender affirmative care,
• mental health needs,
• job training, and
• safe housing.

We can no longer allow our houseless trans comrades to be left to die on the streets because of a city that does not care