Recently in Church shooting TVUUC Category

New Info on Today's Transgender Day of Remembrance

By
Rose Kennedy
on November 20, 2009 10:12 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
In case there was any confusion about precisely where to meet and when, this memo clears it up:

Concerning the gathering for Transgender Day of Remembrance, I've seen several conflicting times.  However, the latest, and probably most accurate is from David Massey, the Secretary/Treasurer of the local PFLAG chapter and Spectrum Cafe:

"This coming Friday, Nov. 20, marks the 11th annual "International Transgender Day of Remembrance" -- a time to memorialize persons who have been killed as a result of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

In Knoxville -- thanks to the leadership of an enterprising U.T. student -- there is an opportunity for folks to gather, remember, learn and demonstrate their support for individuals who dare to live and present themselves as who they truly are.

Gather at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at the corner of Kingston Pike and Concord Street, near the UT campus. You can park at the Tennessee Valley UU Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, just a short distance west of the Concord/Kingston Pike intersection. Feel free to bring signs. Sign-making materials will be available. This event will last until 6:30; come for the whole time or just for a few moments.

For more on the Day of Remembrance, visit www.transgender.org.  And for insight into local politics and struggles, visit http://ttgpac.com -- the Website of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition.

Before heading out to eat... or to a movie... please come show your support for the courageous individuals who choose to be themselves and for those who have died at the hands of hate and prejudice.

For more information, contact Whitney Hill at 661-8184."

If you could please post this correction or in addition to your blurb about tomorrow, it would be appreciated.

Thanks again,

Carla Lewis
Secretary
Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition
(865) 268-9276
http://ttgpac.com

Transgender Day of Remembrance Friday

By
Rose Kennedy
on November 19, 2009 3:50 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
There will be a vigil to remember transgendered victims of violence on Friday, Nov. 20 from 4 to 5:30 at the corner of Kingston Pike and Concord St. The vigil is held in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance, an international observance that calls attention to the threat of violence faced by gender-variant people.

Local peace and civil rights activists have been prominent in local news, recently. In just the past six weeks, Metro Pulse has covered the Nov. 7 Walk for Non-violence, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance's effort to halt new construction at the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant, and the story of Kip Williams, the co-organizer of the October National March for Equality who has roots in Knoxville, and the premiere of the Laramie Project Epilogue, featuring Knoxville actors.

One Year Ago Today...

By
Coury Turczyn
on July 27, 2009 10:24 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
...Knoxville experienced a nightmarish attack when Jim David Adkisson decided to strike out against liberals and "kill them where they gather." He chose the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church as the site of his rampage--on a day when children were performing Annie Jr. Greg McKendry and Linda Kraeger were killed, and six others were wounded. It could have been even more horrific were it not for the brave liberals who tackled Adkisson.

Today at 7 p.m., the TVUUC is holding the "Instruments of Peace" concert as a thank-you for the support it received from the Knoxville community. Folk musicians Guy and Candie Carawan are performing. 

One of the most effective cover story packages we published last year was the collection of essays from survivors of the shooting, "In Their Own Words." Although we didn't get much feedback from readers about it, I believe it truly conveyed what the experience was like and how it affected each witness. I'm really proud of it, as well as our other coverage. 

For some, these events may seem like yesterday's news. But I think these stories are worth rereading now, and that we remember the losses Knoxville suffered that day...




Turning a Statistical Oddity Into a Trend Story

By
Charles Maldonado
on April 9, 2009 11:11 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
More Americans were killed in horrific mass shootings last month than were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since the beginning of the year. Now, one tragic anomaly like that does not a trend story make, but the Daily Beast does have a pretty interesting little editorial on it today, which makes mention of last year's shooting at TVUUC:

Some have tied the rise in mass homicides to the deepening economic downturn--sort of a revenge-fueled root-cause theory. Others point to an unhinged copy-cat killing impulse. Clearly, desperation and violence are on the rise. What's on the decline is our ability to differentiate the violence--the murders get lumped together in a parade of breaking news headlines and then forgotten, assimilating unfiltered into our data-banks.

This bloodshed tally of the past month does not include the murder of an Illinois priest preaching at the pulpit on March 8, 2009. It does not include briefly media-fascinated mass murders like the killer who dressed up as Santa Claus this past holiday season, or the July 2008 shooting of two at a Unitarian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. because of its allegedly "gay-friendly" policies.




Local LGBT Teens Demo How to Break the Silence

By
Rose Kennedy
on April 6, 2009 10:37 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
 

High school students from area Gay Straight Alliances (and those whose schools are still trying to get a GSA together) created a public service announcement now airing on YouTube highlighting the annual "Day of Silence" Friday, April 17. For the nationwide event students and their supporters will shut their mouths to open eyes to the harassment, rejection and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth. Participants and supporters in this region will then "break the silence" at a 5:30 rally at the World's Fair Park Amphitheatre.
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