I’m a big believer in fate, coincidence, serendipity- whatever you want to call it. After wandering around San Francisco for hours, my lovely date and I decided to complete our journey by heading over to my favorite pizza place, in the heart of the Castro neighborhood.
The Castro, for those of you who do not know, is widely known for being the Gay Mecca, a meeting ground for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, and beyond folk to socialize in a queer friendly environment. This area of the city has been a hotbed of political activity for promotion of queer rights and freedoms. Harvey Milk opened his camera shop here, and a few years later he was an active part of city politics. During the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, rally’s and candlelight vigils were often held in the middle of the street to show support for those suffering. Nowadays the Castro is one of the busiest streets filled with all kids of people; gay and straight, rich and poor, multiracial and more.
While teasing my date about his Bon Jovi air guitar performance, I noticed my former co-worker outside, walking quickly from one side of the street to another. She and I used to work on a youth talkline together, handling callers who self identified as queer or questioning, in regards to their gender identity and sexual orientation. I remember all the trans callers we had, and how though it was really hard to come out as gay, lesbian or bi for a young person, it was near impossible to realize and truly confront the idea of being transgender when you’re young. I remember the constant threat of violence my trans friends and caller’s lived with daily. The murder rate for transgender people is 17 times higher than the national murder rate. It’s is the highest minority rate.
November 19th 2009 is the international day where some take the time to stop and reflect on the violence inflicted upon transgendered people throughout the world, and hopefully raise awareness about trans intolerance. Trans people still have a long way to go when it comes to the basic right of safety, of being able to walk down any street, not just Castro, and not fear the other person walking by. While sitting in the most gay friendly block in the world, I was reminded of the trans struggle. It was fate, being at that pizza place, at that time, to see that person, before the Transgender Day of Remembrance, reminding me how of how far some people still have to go to reach true equality.