S.F. school's day of remembrance:
Gay student groups honor transgender victims of homicide

Friday, November 21, 2003
Rona Marech, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Some of the cardboard gravestones were tilting or had been knocked over by the wind. But the message was clear: Atop each of the small, gray markers were the letters RIP and the name of a transgender person who had been killed in a hate crime.

Julia Carrizales, who died of strangulation in Webster, Texas, in 2000. Sissy "Charles" Bolden, slain in 1999 in Savannah, Ga. Jose Angel Osuna, shot in the chest and stomach in San Diego in 1990. The names continued on signs in the auditorium and up and down the hallways. Cinnamon Perry, shot down by someone in a passing car in Houston in 2003.

George Washington High School's gay organizations, Go and the Gay Straight Alliance, planned the mock graveyard and the sign campaign in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance, a nationwide event founded five years ago in honor of Rita Hester, who was stabbed to death in Boston in 1998, and other transgender homicide victims.

Students also made a public service announcement, passed out black armbands and organized a panel of young transgender speakers. Yesterday's events also commemorated the first anniversary of the death of Gwen Araujo, the transgender Newark teenager who was killed last October.

"The fact that she was so young hit home," said Benish Khan, 16. "It's scary that it could happen in the Bay Area because we're so diverse, and there are so many people here who regard themselves as different. . .. . We thought this would be a good way to increase awareness and appreciation for different people."

George Washington High in the Richmond District is one of six California schools -- including Antioch High School and four others in Southern California -- that planned activities honoring the day.

Gay advocates and educators say that these small actions are symbolic of a noticeable shift in attitude toward transgender individuals -- people whose internal sense of gender doesn't match their biological gender.

"Gwen's death and the subsequent media coverage have raised awareness in a good way, in society and in schools, for transgender people -- particularly for transgender young people," said Carolyn Laub, the executive director of Gay-Straight Alliance Network, which links gay and lesbian clubs in the state.

"Gwen was young, so it really struck a chord with young people and parents, school teachers and administrators. . . . We've definitely seen an increase in people wanting to learn more about what they can be doing to make sure school is a safe place and what happened to Gwen doesn't happen again in their community."

Mateo Cruz, one of yesterday's panelists, said that since Araujo's death, the Pacific Center in Berkeley, the gay and lesbian community center where he works, had received three times as many requests for speakers and trainings. He participates in at least five panels every month.

In addition, while no one tracks out transgender high school students in the state, their ranks are increasing, Laub said. "Five years ago, when I started the network, there were no out transgender students I knew of," she said. "No one was talking about this. Just in five years, there has been a real change."

That correlates to the growing number of Gay Straight Alliance clubs in the state, from 50 to 370 in five years, she said.

Gay students at George Washington High School say that while homophobia and intolerance exist at the large, multiracial school, the environment for gay students is generally accepting. Aside from a comment or snicker here and there, the events yesterday inspired little controversy, and the 40 or so students who attended the panel listened with rapt attention.

They clapped and yelled encouragement when one speaker said she was nervous and broke into applause again when Cruz said that even though his family had cut him off since his transition from female to male, "I've never been happier. I feel so happy and confident about who I am."

As students filed out at the end of the period, Marion Weaver, 14, said, "I never knew they had to go through all that just to be who they are."

"I thought it was quite awesome that they are so comfortable with themselves and can be themselves without hiding it," said Holly King, 14. "I learned that you can't just hide and act like everyone else. You have to be individual and be unique."

E-mail Rona Marech at rmarech@sfchronicle.com.