[This article appears in the November/December 2021 issue of Boston Spirit magazine. Subscribe for free today.]
On Saturday, Nov. 20, the South Coast LGBTQ+ Network — a nonprofit organization that supports and advocates for members of the community in and around New Bedford and Fall River, Mass. — will host its second annual event honoring the international Transgender Day of Remembrance.
As long as COVID regulations continue to allow, last year’s mostly virtual occasion will be replaced this year by two gatherings throughout the region. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., supporters (and guest speakers) will march the Battleship Cove boardwalk at Fall River Heritage State Park, raising funds to equip trans folks with essentials — hormones, binders, transportation and more — during their transition.
The walk will be followed by a demonstration at the steps of the New Bedford Public Library from 2 to 4 p.m. (livestreamed for those who can’t attend in person). There, guest speakers will inspire those gathered to fight hard for trans rights and full equality, as participants hold aloft placards bearing the names of trans people who have been murdered in America this year.
It will be an important, powerful day. But Traci Welch, a member of the board of the South Coat LGBTQ+ Network, wants to make it clear that the organization is committed every day to prioritizing the needs and issues of the most marginalized members of the community — trans folks, in particular.
As a relatively small nonprofit, the Network must be targeted in how it spends its time, she explains. “That has been a struggle for us,” Welch says. “There are 300,000 people on the South Coast, and if 10 percent of people are LGBTQ, that’s 30,000 people. We only have 24 volunteers a month doing all this work.” She says that anecdotal observation and more formal community-needs assessments have made it abundantly clear that trans folks on the South Coast contend with challenges and discrimination that require a high-priority response.
That reality is underscored by every hateful comment Welch sees when she posts about transgender-focused Network events or issues on community Facebook pages. It is highlighted by reports Welch received of trans folks being misgendered by local police, reports that resulted in the Network providing free training to the department.
Welch says there has also been anxiety in the South Coast trans community over the recent release of New Bedford native Joseph Scott Pemberton, a marine who was convicted of killing Jennifer Laude, a Filipino transgender woman, in a motel in Manila in 2014. Pemberton, who employed the so-called “trans panic” defense, was pardoned in September 2020 by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after serving a little more than half of a 10-year sentence. Although it is currently unknown where Pemberton has resettled in the states, his release — and the reminder of the tragic death of Laude — is unsettling, Welch explains. So are some of the responses to his release she’s seen on social media.
“What he did should be legal,” is one of a number of heinous comments about the Pemberton-Laude cause that Welch has spotted on a local Facebook page, she says. It’s also one that makes crystal clear why an event like the Transgender Day of Remembrance — a show of solidarity against transphobia and in support of trans communities — is so incredibly important.
The work can’t stop there, though. That’s why the Network offers live group meet-ups for trans and nonbinary folks as well as virtual support groups for parents and guardians; they provide corporate training sessions, and even have social workers on hand with information and resources at the Network’s monthly tea dances at Le Place, a gay bar in New Bedford. Next year, the Network will open a sprawling three-floor community space in downtown New Bedford, giving it even more room to expand its services and programs.
It’s the kind of progress that owes great debt to South Coast LGBTQ advocates like Joan Stratton, a transgender woman and longtime board member who died in February at age 70 due to complications from COVID. Although the Transgender Day of Remembrance was established to memorialize those who have been murdered, there is no doubt that the memory of a beloved local figure like Stratton will loom large, as well.
“She was always an advocate. She made sure that issues didn’t get lost, and helped people to speak up,” says Welch of her late fellow board member. “Her welcoming face was always there. She was the silent type, so you won’t see her in any pictures, but she was always there.”
More: South Coast LGBTQ+ Network
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