Transgender Day of Rememberance

The word Transgender defines a mixed bag, but is mostly used to describe those fellow humans among us, that see and experience themselves as one gender, but unfortunately their biological body does not match this gender. The available options to those people range from ignoring it and arranging themselves with a life in the wrong body to undergoing medical treatment and ultimately having sex reassignment surgery.

The important thing is that today, in 2009, they actually have a choice! We have not only made radical advances in the medical area, also society has become much more understanding and liberal, accepting not only the reality of those people, but also granting them the choice to live the life they want to live.

Some people however did not get a choice. Some people were killed, murdered, beaten to death, tortured, shot - because they were different! Because their murderers could not cope with that, because their killers could not accept the fact that people sometimes end up in the wrong body. So they took the right of choice from their victims, and chose death for them.

And there are others that could not live with the conflict anymore. Who felt obliged - for whatever reason - to keep up the appearance for their parents, their siblings, maybe their wives or husbands. Because they feared social repercussions, loss of job, loss of status. Because they did not know there are other ways. Because they could not afford them. Because they felt ashamed to ask for help. And saw no other way than to kill themselves.

Today, on the 20th of November, we think of those poor souls who got killed or took their own lives, simply because they were different. Today is Transgender Day of Rememberance.