skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Remembering Unsolved Murders and Hate Crimes

play audio
Play

Wednesday, November 19, 2008   

Richmond, VA - Virginians will band together on Thursday to fight hate crime, prejudice, and even murder during the ninth annual "Transgender Day of Remembrance." The event follows nationwide action condemning California's ban on gay marriage, known as Proposition 8.

Quillin Drew, anti-violence project manager for Equality Virginia, notes that the violent death of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, gained national attention in 1998. One month after Shepard's death, Rita Hester, a transgender Californian, was also murdered. But while Shepard's murderers were arrested and charged, Drew says, Hester's killer has never been found.

"With many of the people in this community, their murders remain unsolved and their murderers often go unidentified by the local media. Often those murders are not even deemed acts of hatred and violence or hate crimes by the local law enforcement agencies."

Drew says she hopes that the Day of Remembrance can open the eyes of people who may not support equal rights for all, regardless of gender identity.

"By taking certain actions to limit those human rights, they're basically making people invisible and taking away their humanity when they do that. And I think that we would all be better off if everybody were equally human in the eyes of one another.”

The term 'transgender,' Drew explains, is a fairly simple concept.

"Transgender means a person whose outward gender expression, or the way they feel about their gender, doesn't match up with society's expectations."

The Day of Remembrance seeks to fight indifference to these crimes, as well as to honor the lives of transgendered people and their friends and families. A candlelight service in Richmond is among the statewide events.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021