On Feb 12, 2013, a transgender woman know as Kayla Moore died in the police department of Berkeley after "violent resistance", just across the street from where I live. Yet, we didn't know this since today, more than a month later that such a tragedy happened around us in our neighborhood, especially in such a "liberal community" as we proudly regard it as, and there was only a little protest near People's Park. We cannot yet judge too much about this case, because in the report the police said that the "man" violently resisted to cooperate and then died under constraint and we can't conclude whether it is a case directly related to the fact that Kayla was a transgender. I think what is important right now is to let the public know what exactly happened and thus show respect to the dead. What's more, trans group nearby have the right to know why one of them died in the police department, where they should trust. Such a thing may cause great distrust and even more violence to happen. So why hasn't anything else released after the protest?
Talking about resistance, in the film Screaming Queens, we saw a page of the history of drag queens, gays and transgender in San Francisco. The films documents the riot raised in Compton's Cafe, and introduced how the trans group were forced to Turk Street and have their unusual life there. The main conflict the trans group faced were the harassment of the police, which did not lead the trans group to reach the state of resistance after very long period. As one of the transgender woman said, "I have the freedom to be a big sis on stage, but I don't have the freedom to live my life off stage." It is not that there family didn't support them. They were "disgusting", hated and unacceptable. Why are these people thought to be threatening? Why are they treated so just because they look different? Why are such things still happening today?
Looking at the riot itself, we should notice how important it is and remember it. As San Francisco Bay Area is one of the leading community of gay/trans rights, the riot can actually be seen as the event that push to what we have here today. Yet, after a short period in 2008, gay marriage became illegal again in the whole state of California. It was the riot that started to let the trans group have their life with basic needs. The ID card, the surgery, the celebrity effect… They became more and more accepted by the community and the riot was exactly the turning point.
So right now, do trans only face the fear of coming out and telling their family? Absolutely not. Not to say that they still face the invisible discrimination and prejudice, gay/trans group is not really accepted by every community in the world. Remember, gay marriage is sill illegal in the US except in Washington D.C. Even in Mexico you can get married in Mexico CIty and the whole country admits your marriage then. When gay/lesbian couples go out of Washington, they are legally "unmarriaged" then. Even the UK parliament had the vote and most people said "aye" to gay marriage. Although the problem today of gender non-normativity is far more than just gays and lesbians, we should see how slow in improvement we are that even the basic right of them getting married is illegal in most part of the U.S., the country that is believed to be the most liberal and free. No wonder the trans group has to face more than legal wise unfairness.
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