During the GLAAD Gala San Francisco on
Saturday, RuPaul's Drag Race alum Peppermint made a powerful
speech about the National Trans Visibility March that took place
earlier that day.
The host of Saturday's event,
Peppermint remembered the 18 transgender women of color murdered this
year.
“I know how lucky I am, but I also
know you shouldn’t have to be lucky just to feel safe walking
around in your own skin. That should be my right, not my privilege.
But we cannot make that a reality; we can’t change the world if we
are fighting alone,” Peppermint
told the crowd.
“This unrelenting cycle of despair
puts one in three trans women in extreme poverty and leads many of us
to substance abuse, which subjects many of us to violence and
survival sex work. Trans women of color are twice as likely to be
unemployed and live in extreme poverty as our white counterparts,
more than 40 percent of us experience homelessness, and nearly half
of Black trans women attempt suicide.”
“Nineteen trans women have been
murdered already this year, and 18 of those 19 victims have been
Black trans women. Many of us escaped murder only to remain inside a
cycle of poverty, abuse, and oppression that seems unbreakable. But
it’s not unbreakable.”
“Don't scandalize or act surprised
when you discover someone loves a trans person,” Peppermint
requested from the audience. “Our potential partners need to be
welcomed into our spaces, not made to feel as though their sexuality
is off because they love a trans man or woman.”