" ( I ) t is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn. Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime . … You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips." -- Firenze the Centaur ( J.K. Rowlings, author of Harry Potter )
She was proud and happy as she made her way to the party that damp October evening. The pretty 17-year-old was wearing the peasant blouse she had borrowed from her mom. Sure, it didn't fit her quite right, but her mom supported her and had let her wear her blouse. It made her feel all warm and toasty just knowing that her mom loved her so much. It sheltered her against the chilly night air.
And what a party it was! There was music and laughter. There was food and drink … maybe too much drink. There were old friends from high school, and lots of new friends to be made. It was a magical evening. And, well, she got a little tipsy.
She didn't know how she wound up in the bathroom with the other girls. She didn't know why her new friends wanted to see what was under her little mini skirt. But what the heck, they seemed like nice enough girls. She could go along with their simple request.
The other girls came laughing and screaming out of the bathroom, "You were right … it is a boy." Just some stupid high school kids having a stupid high school laugh at the expense of one of their classmates. That's all it should have been. Kids can sometimes be cruel. But cruel can't begin to describe what happened next.
The men began to transform. Transformed by their ignorance, and their inability to comprehend, they grew angry. Transformed by their fear, they became emboldened. Transformed by their own insecurity, they turned hateful. They became monsters. They set upon her like a pack of foul-smelling hyenas, to kill the last unicorn.
Gwen Araujo was a unicorn. A creature rare and beautiful … she should have been cherished and protected. Not clubbed and beaten and strangled. Not buried in a shallow grave in the lonely foothills of the high Sierras. The colorful peasant blouse that her mom so willingly and lovingly lent to her was not meant to be her death shroud.
This has been a very bad year for the unicorns. There have been over two dozen slayings in the past 12 months. For every murder there are at least 50 assaults or rapes. For every assault there are hundreds of verbal attacks.
There just aren't enough transgender youth out there that we can let even one murder pass, let alone the dozens that we have witnessed over the years. The number of kids like Gwen Araujo is miniscule. They're rare as unicorns. The world dies just a bit more with the death of every unicorn. We all die just a bit more. And when the last unicorn is gone, the world will be a dark and dismal place.
Once upon a time, in a land not so very far from here, there were unicorns. Strange and wondrous creatures, beautiful and shy, they existed only to bring beauty and light into the world, and love into the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to get close to them. And yet again and again, one after the other, the unicorns were slaughtered.
Miranda Stevens-Miller welcomes your comments at MirandaSt1@aol.com .
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The Los Angeles Times and other media reported on the hundreds of mourners at Araujo's funeral.
"Hundreds of friends, family and sympathizers from across California gathered in this working-class Bay Area suburb [ Oct. 25 ] to mourn the brutal killing of the 17-year-old youth whom some knew as Eddie and others, as Gwen," the Times said.
"Angels don't have a gender, and he's my angel now," Araujo's mother, Sylvia Guerrero, told the mournors, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "He's safe somewhere where no one can hurt him."
Michael William Magidson, 22, Jose Antonio Merel, 22, and Jaron Chase Nabors, 19, have been charged with murder and a hate crime enhancement. Nabors has pleaded not guilty, the Chronicle reported.
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Please join us at the 4th Transgender Day of Remembrance, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 6 p.m., at the Thompson Center Plaza. The candlelight vigil is dedicated to the memory of those killed in hate crimes based on gender identity or expression.
Speakers include Ald. Billy Ocasio, lead sponsor of the Chicago Gender Identity Amendment, and Vernita Gray of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
Over the past year, there have been at least two deaths each month … people killed by anti-transgender violence and prejudice. More than 250 deaths have been recorded at the Remembering Our Dead Web site ( www.gender.org/remember ) . Three teens, Gwen Araujo, Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis, were among the 26 new names added to the list within the last year.
Violence based upon gender variance does not solely affect the transgendered. Anyone just perceived as crossing gender lines can become a victim.
Join us in standing against these deaths!
