Remembrance

My thoughts were rightly shaken from their comfort zone as the Transgendered Day of Remembrance came to pass.

I have been focused wholly on my own little world, my family in recent weeks. That precious safe little bubble I live in. The loved ones I am so lucky to have, the memories of days gone past & thoughts for our future.

My thoughts & prayers are with those dear souls who are no longer with us & the families they have left behind. The innocent victims; who have been so brutally killed, simply because they were courageous enough to come out to the world & be true to their hearts.

What must these dear brothers & sisters have experienced as the precious life they had gone through so much anguish to live is suddenly plunged into darkness? We must never forget their spirit. Their tragic sacrifice at the hands of evil prejudice must never be forgotten.

How do the families of these poor souls cope with their grief & sometimes their guilt? Every day they worried each time their loved one set foot outside the door if they would come back safely. Every time we disappear from view during bouts of dark depression they worried we may become a victim of our own hand. How do they cope? How do those families survive mourning for the second time, the person they may have tragically believed they lost & chose to reject, when they transitioned? How do they cope with not being able to say good by to their loved one?

I have been so moved by the stories I have read, the heart felt empathy filled words on the blogs of my dear friends from all over the world. I am grateful to the extraordinary eloquent people, out there who are pro-active, who endeavour to ensure the world should remember these people. Who could possibly forget the cruel way poor "Ali" was treated. My thoughts are with those people who are unable to have the option of living in stealth, who live in fear 24/7. The dear friends who we have never even met who have touched our hearts. The lonely & the isolated brothers & sisters out there of which there are so many who are going through such difficult times at this emotional time of the year.

I have not been able to tell my parents about TDOR because it would only play on their already deeply ingrained fears that any person like me faces losing their friends, their families, their jobs, & will be chased out of the village by people with blazing torches. They were fears from a different generation although sometimes I wonder if perhaps they were right all along.

Every time I go out with them as the person I was born to be I take extra care to try not to give the minority of evil people out there any opportunity or reason to have a go at my family. Is that stealth, is it cowardice, and is it necessary? I am so lucky, I feel so humble, to have my live, to have a future. For so many that fear, that prejudice is tragically real life 24/7!

Every day, anytime, anywhere, any person regardless of gender, sexuality, race or religion could be the next innocent victim of prejudice.

My thoughts & prayers are with you all.

Take care & please keep safe.

Peace & Love
Debbie