Becoming an activist, transgender murders, BLM

This is a story I tweeted, which is why I formatted it like this, one tweet at a time.
It's a response to those who ignore the pain, the suffering and the anger of those who are targeted.
People of color, transgender people, gays, lesbians, bisexuals...

Basically this is about the people who are murdered, assaulted, raped, beaten up or harassed for no other reason then who they are.
Some of this is pretty heavy, I cried while I typed this, while feeling furious about what some bigot said to me just minutes earlier.

Here it goes:

You cannot claim to be a #women rights activist and simultaneously treat #transgender women as lesser beings.
This is why people kill us.
Silence = acceptance.

You either support all women or you're not really supporting women.
Equality for all or none at all.
#TransLivesMatter

Staying silent on issues like the systematic mass murders of #transgender people means you accept it.
There is no neutral ground.

When people are being murdered for no other reason then who they are and you ignore it, that means you condone it.

That goes for any group of people that is targeted with violence and murder, whether it's #transgender #gay #lesbian #bisexual POC religion.

If "all lives matter", then our lives matter too.
Shouting that all lives matter doesn't stop the problem that we are being murdered.

This is why we say #TransLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatter #NativeLivesMatter etc.
Because we are being hunted to death.

If you are not and it's not a problem to you, it's easy to say "all lives matter" and just move on and ignore our pain, our struggle.

That is the essence of privilege.
If it's not a problem to you, then why should you care about our lives being destroyed?

But while you look the other way, smugly proclaiming "all lives matter", more of us are being murdered, assaulted or raped.

When we say #BlackLivesMatter #NativeLivesMatter #TransLivesMatter it is not a slogan, it is a cry for help, because we are suffering.

And the fact that our suffering is being ignored hurts so much more then the knowledge that there are people out there trying to kill us.

Because they are a few, but the ones who ignore us are many.
And they simply don't seem to care, or worse.
They actively support it.

Do you have any idea what it's like to be called "IT", to have your humanity stripped away and be treated like you're not human?

Do you have any idea what's it like to live in mortal fear?
Knowing that every day might be your last?
Not being able to trust anyone?

Do you know what it's like to have people around you stare at you all the time, follow you around, treat you like you're a criminal?

When you're living your cozy little life free of all these problems and don't keep yourself informed on these matters it's easy to ignore it

But we can't ignore it, because pain and fear is our life.
And as long as people keep ignoring it, the violence will continue forever.

When you're being ignored like that, the hopelessness and despair can become to much.
Too many people have given up and committed suicide.

This is what happens when you're trapped in a nightmare that just won't stop and nobody will listen to you.
Death becomes the only escape.

I tried to kill myself.
More then once.
Until I realized that by doing so I was allowing the haters to win.
So I decided to fight back.

I finally felt comfortable enough with myself and the build up anger and frustration of decades of pain gave me the strength to fight.

Those who follow me may have seen some of this anger.
I have a lot of it.
It is the pain of 32 years of constant suffering unleashed.

It is the pain of those who confined in me as I reached out seeking support myself.
The pain of those who have suffered even worse then me.

This is why I cannot bring myself to commit suicide, even when I feel deeply depressed.
Because I'm no longer just fighting for myself.

It all started when I heard about Ferguson.
That was the reason why I decided to become an activist.
I just couldn't just sit and watch.

I felt so sorry for the victims.
I felt so deeply saddened by all the pain and suffering.
But most of all I felt so angry at the injustice.

It's because I recognized so much of it.
From my family during World War II, from my own experiences, from what I had seen myself.

And then I heard about the murders of #transgender people.
My first reaction was this:
http://churchofequality.friendhood.net/t19-coming-out-on-twitter-no-less …

See what happened there?
My cozy little world of privilege came crashing down and suddenly I realized one of those victims could be me.

Realizing that made me understand what people who are being targeted by violent predators must go through.
It became personal.

Not long after that the first family members of the victims of police brutality, rape victims, assault victims etc entered my TL.

As they shared their experience and I shared mine, through the tears a burden was lifted.
It can feel so good to let it all out.

I surround myself with those who suffered and those who make me smile.
It helps keep me going.
It helps me confront all of that pain.

There were good moments too, little things that meant a lot to me.
I got retweeted by and talked to @RickyVelez @mikeyardcomedy and...

... @Felonious_munk from @nightlyshow.
Also got retweeted by @larrywilmore @robinthede.
Since I'm a big fan of the show that was cool.

Also retweeted by @Trevornoah in the first week he took over @TheDailyShow.
All of this was only a few months after my very 1st tweet ever.

So I'll end with that.
This way this very long rant ends with something positive.
If you made it this far, thanks for listening.