Damn. I hate writing this particular column. Each year I hope this will be the year I can write that trans homicides have subsided, that trans violence has taken a downturn and that we no longer need to gauge progress through the measurement of death and beatings. Sadly, that is again not the case in 2011.

Much has been written about the upcoming revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the volume often called the “psychiatrist’s bible.” This is the main tool wielded by alleged gatekeepers who so often smugly deign to diagnose those of us who have self-defined gender and/or sexuality. Not all clinicians fit into this categorization, but enough do that the situation remains problematic.

Upon my return from traveling on Tuesday, July 19, I found my inbox flooded with news that a dear friend had passed on. I can’t say that I knew Pamela Jones nearly as well as I would have liked, yet she and I shared many far-ranging conversations and I always felt her to be a kindred spirit.

My dear friend Robyn is forever reminding me that it’s a trap to focus solely on trans related stories which only serve to accentuate the trans-person-as-victim narrative. I hope this will redeem me; this is my personal success story!

Words have consequences. That’s what Gabby Giffords said before the tragic events in Tucson had transpired. Words have consequences. That’s what many of us in the LGBT community think, as well. Spend just one November evening remembering our dead on the Transgender Day of Remembrance and it’s crystal clear that language all too often leads to violence.

With all the topics you’d think would be open for discussion in the trans community, it seems we always get stuck on a certain few: bathrooms, nomenclature, ENDA and trans etiologies. I presume the reason is that we’ve made the least progress in these specific areas. This time I’m recycling the “passing” issue.

It’s been about a year since we lost Christine Daniels, the Los Angeles Times sportswriter who transitioned and later killed herself (read my post column on the topic at goqnotes.com/4549). After reading the LA Weekly article, I was devastated — perhaps one of hundreds who innocently subjected her to pressure for advocacy. I suspect she would not have wanted us to feel remorse, yet her death, along with the latest bullying-provoked suicides, has once again called me to re-examine the taking of one’s own life. But, there’s another reason, too.

By a very rough estimate, since January I’ve counted 19 instances of hate crimes perpetrated against trans individuals resulting in death, worldwide. These are the lives we recall and commemorate each year on Nov. 20, the annual Trans Day of Remembrance. These are the lives that have been tragically snuffed out prematurely because of hate and fear and ignorance.

Columnist Robbi Cohn discusses what it means to be transgender, and considering gender reassignment surgeries.

I always liked Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World.” The lyrics, “don’t know much about history, don’t know much biology,” really get to me. When I went to college, I was headed [...]

What’s happened to ENDA? Many had surmised that a Democratic president, Senate and House would mean much of the legislation, so long unaccomplished, would finally be a no brainer. We [...]

What drives people to inhuman behavior? Hate and violence are usually a product of fear and ignorance, which often manifest in an inability to comprehend and a failure to communicate. [...]

Last month’s column addressed suicide and the sense of victimization that is often associated with it. This is not the only face of being trans. There are many instances of [...]