Groups hope to raise awareness of transgender issues

Kaaseem Adalla Juanda was a 60-year-old post-operative transsexual woman who lived in Kansas City, Kansas. On Oct. 17, 2005, Juanda's body was found outside a rest stop on Interstate 29 near Glenwood, Iowa. She had been shot in the head.The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reported a month later, according to the Associated Press, that police could not conclude whether it was a suicide or a murder.

But family members were convinced Juanda was murdered for being transgendered. Juanda's 37-year-old son Derrick told the Nonpareil he believed the man his father was dating may have committed the crime.

"My theory is that maybe this guy my dad was with found out my father used to be a man, so he put a hit on my father," he said. "The gunshot was toward the back of his head, execution style."

Juanda's name joins more than 100 that members of the Gender and Sexual Orientation student agency and its affiliated social group, Queers & Allies, plan to remind students of next week by observing the Transgendered Day of Remembrance.

"There really needs to be visibility," said Caitie Wegener, president of Queers & Allies. "People need to reach out and realize that trans people are being killed in disproportionate amounts."

The Transgendered Day of Remembrance is observed on Nov. 20 in recognition of the 1998 murder of Rita Hester, a highly visible member of the Boston transgender community who died after being stabbed 20 times, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Hester's murder remains unsolved.

'Transgendered' is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity or expression differs from the sex they were born as, according to a reference sheet from GLAAD. The term includes transsexuals, people who change their gender through surgical or hormonal procedures.

The day, observed internationally by groups like Groupe Activiste Trans in Paris to the Human Rights Commission of Tel Aviv, was established by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, who coordinated a vigil in Rita's honor in 1999, according to GLAAD. Smith later launched a Web site "Remembering Our Dead" to draw attention to those lost to anti-transgender violence.

The names of 116 of those fallen will be painted on tombstones displayed in the Pep Bowl, south of the Eppley Administration Building, from Nov. 17 through Nov. 21, said Ejay Jack, director of the GSO student agency.

The GSO and Queers & Allies will also put on two events in conjunction with Transgendered Day of Remembrance: a screening of a documentary and a folk music performance.

The documentary, "The Brandon Teena Story," will be screened at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Milo Bail Student Center State Room. The film focused on the murder of 20-year-old Brandon Teena on Dec. 31, 1993, in Falls City, Neb.

Teena's story was also the basis of the 1999 film "Boys Don't Cry," for which Hilary Swank, who played Teena, won an Academy Award for Best Actress. A roundtable discussion will follow the documentary's screening.

The performance, scheduled 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Milo Bail Student Center Nebraska Room will feature Namoli Brennet, a male-to-female transgendered person, and Coyote Grace, a duo composed of female-to-male Joe Steven and his partner Ingrid Elizabeth.

Brennet is a folk musician, and Coyote Grace does a variety of genres including bluegrass, old-time, folk rock, jazz and cabarets. Education and advocacy messages will be intermixed with music at the event, and free food will be available.

"I want to get more people comfortable with attending," Jack said. "I just hope that everyone comes out to listen."

There is not enough visibility for transgender people, even within the gay and lesbian community, Wegener said. She hopes the event will raise students' awareness of transgender issues.

Both groups sponsoring the Transgendered Day of Remembrance events are looking for more students interested in supporting their organizations.

Anyone interested in Queers & Allies can e-mail Wegener at unoqueersandallies@gmail.com or join the organization's Facebook group. Queers & Allies meets at different locations on campus from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursdays this semester.

The GSO student agency holds weekly meetings for anyone interested in participating. The meetings are on Wednesdays at 4:10 p.m. at the GSO office, located behind MavRadio in the Student Organization and Leadership Program offices in the Milo Bail Student Center.