by Judith E. Beckett

    Gwen Araujo’s body was found on Wednesday, Oct. 15, in a shallow grave near a campground 150 miles northeast of Newark, California. The seventeen-year-old transgendered teenager had been bludgeoned, tied up, and strangled with a rope after the youth’s biological sex was discovered at a house party. Born Eddie Araujo, the youth was reported missing by Sylvia Guerrero, on October 5 when Araujo had not returned home for two days.
      Gwen Aruajo is just one of 25 transgendered individuals who have died as a result of hate-crime violence since October of last year. November 20th marked the fourth annual National Transgender Day of Remembrance to memorialize those who have been killed because of anti-transgender hatred and prejudice. This year Burlington honored transgender victims for the first time, joining dozens of cities in 19 states across the U.S. and in Canada, Chile and Spain in the 4-year-old memorial observance.
      Organizers set up a visual display honoring the dead on the steps of Burlington’s City Hall. Although not every person represented had self-identified as transgendered – transsexual, crossdresser, or gender-variant – each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.
      The display was followed by a candlelight procession to Union Station where a speak-out occurred. Members of the trans community, their allies, families, and friends had the opportunity to express their sadness and rage.
      Samuel Lurie, who helped with the planning of Burlington’s Day of Remembrance, said he has been amazed and heartened at the strong outpouring of support and interest in this event in Burlington.
      Kate Jerman, another organizer, said she became interested in bringing the Day of Remembrance to Vermont after attending two such events in New York City. When she brought the idea to Outright Vermont Executive Director B.J. Rogers, he was very much behind it.
      “For me the event is about mourning the dead and making the statement that this has to stop, that the violence will not be allowed to continue,” Jerman said. She hoped the event gave “visibility to the things that trans people face every day that others aren’t even aware of.” Although Jerman has not yet lost anyone close to her to anti-trans violence, she believes that “one of these days it’s not going to be a stranger but a friend, a lover or a trans youth that I work with.”
      In California, four young men have been arrested and charged with Araujo’s murder as of press time: Michael William Magidson, 27, Jaron Chase Nabors, 19, Jose Antonio Merel, 24, and Jason Cazares, 22,
      It was reportedly Paul Merel’s girlfriend, Nicole Brown, who discovered Araujo’s sexual identity after taking the youth into a bathroom for that purpose. When Brown announced that Araujo was a boy, Jose Merel, Nabors and Magidson allegedly beat Araujo to the floor then dragged the semi-conscious body to the garage and strangled the youth.
      All four face hate-crime charges and possible death sentences. Activists from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) warn that there is a possibility that a “trans-panic” defense may be attempted since there are some reports that Araujo may have had a relationship with one of the suspects.
      Police are also investigating individuals at the party who could have prevented or reported the murder but did not.
      Araujo’s aunt, Imelda Guerrero, said Gwen was “a beautiful person inside and out.” School officials and teachers describe Araujo as “happy-go-lucky” and intelligent. They expressed shock and sadness at the news of the murder.
      But Sylvia Guerrero, Araujo’s mother, said that her child had been so harassed and taunted at school that Araujo eventually dropped out. Equally troubling are reports that potential employers refused to hire Gwen due to the youth’s gender identity.
      Ironically, Gwen’s death occurred shortly before the Newark Memorial High School presented the “Laramie Project,” a play examining the affect that the murder of openly gay college student Matthew Shepard in 1998 had on the town of Laramie, Wyoming.
      The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) reports that, so far, media coverage has been mixed. GLAAD has begun working with the media to correct basic errors regarding inaccurate terminology and incorrect pronoun usage as well as language that “blames the victim.” Distinctions between sexual orientation and gender identity seem to be especially problematic.
      Gender identity includes an individual’s identity, appearance, or behavior regardless of whether or not they are different from those traditionally associated with the individual’s sex at birth.
      In both California and Vermont, gender identity and expression are protected under hate crimes provisions. Four states and the District of Columbia include gender identity in their hate crime laws. The other two states are Minnesota and Missouri.
      NTAC, along with the Remembering Our Dead Project, has established a Bereavement Fund to assist the family and friends of Gwen “Lida” Araujo with costs associated with loss of a loved one. Funds will be turned over to a Memorial Fund established by the family in Araujo’s birth name: Eddie Araujo, Jr. Information for donating to the fund can be found at www.ntac.org/donation.
      The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in San Francisco in response to the still unsolved murder of Rita Hester, a transgendered woman who was stabbed to death in her apartment on November 28, 1998. At that time, the Remembering Our Dead Project (which spawned the Day of Remembrance) discovered that an average of one person was reported murdered each month due to anti-transgender violence. In 2002 this figure has doubled. Smith believes the increase to be the result of better reporting and suspects that, sadly, “There is a chance, perhaps a good one, that there are even more still out there that we are missing.”
      Back in Burlington, Lurie commented, “While I am pleased that people are responding in a heartfelt way, they really can’t help but be deeply affected by these stories. It could be us. It could be anybody. I’d like to see the respect and support for trans people grow into all areas of life, not just around these terrible tragedies.”
      Trans activist and event organizer Eli Clare talked about how hate crimes function to make all people in the group afraid. “The murder of trans people creates a knowledge within that we are all vulnerable,” Clare said. “The Day of Remembrance says ‘no’ to trans violence and gives us the opportunity to express our grief and rage in community, instead of in isolation. It is a way of taking some of that vulnerability and creating an event that has the potential to change the world.”