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Thousands march for black trans lives

WBZ reports on a march from Franklin Park to Nubian Square yesterday.

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The best Universal Hub can provide is a link to WBZ's coverage? This was such a poignant event. Especially considering just hours before it took place the Trump administration erased transgender protections in health care.

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Adam Gaffin is just one guy who can't be everywhere.

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You mean you're just noticing I haven't been to a single one of the big rallies/marches around here?

Somehow, you already knew about yesterday's march, so your issue isn't that I've failed to tell you something you didn't know, just that I didn't show what you consider adequate concern about it. You are right, these truly are miserable times we live in.

But the sad truth is, I contain multitudes - of risk groups. I have a wife and daughter to consider. My life and theirs are not worth it, not when I know that there are other people out there who will cover these things (I didn't go to the first two big marches, either, but am grateful for all the people who tagged me with their reports on Twitter, and for my police scanner still working no matter how many times I've dropped it).

I have been to three smaller vigils, in West Roxbury and Roslindale. I've tried to stay at the periphery for them, or, at least, not stand still when traversing the more crowded sections.

But on Friday, when I went in for my physical (yes, doctors are doing those again), after I told my doctor I'd been to three vigils (and I emphasized they were small ones), he postponed all the bloodwork and shots (well, maybe just shot, not sure) I was supposed to get until next week, so I could go outside to the tent they have set up for Covid-19 testing (I feel fine, but better safe than sorry).

Supposedly Monday I get the results.

But now you know.

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Good response. If it was so important to them why didn't THEY take pictures and send them to you? Speaking from a Chelsea point of view, I do not think Adam has ever been here himself covering things (correct me if I am wrong) but he has some Chelsea contributors who send him stuff or he picks it up from our local paper. He is one person depending on a volunteer corps of people.

I was invited to go myself but without knowing the lay of the land and knowing it would be crowded I decided it was better to visit family where I sat in their backyard ten feet from them as we chatted over cool drinks (I brought my own.)

Like Adam, I come into contact with a lot of people who have health issues and am heavy myself. I have been very selective about things I take pictures of and the two events for other things I have helped planned I canceled or scaled way back.

In short, Adam makes it incredibly easy to share first hand accounts of almost any event. If you want it covered then maybe put down the laptop, pick up the cell phone and go cover it! 90 percent of the people readng this blog are walking around with high caliber cameras in their pockets. There is no excuse if you feel something should be represented. You don't need a DSLR to cover an event.

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It's true - although I have been to Chelsea (but not long enough to stop at Katz), I've never actually covered anything there myself, so yes, I am certainly grateful for folks who, over the years, have tagged me with some great photos (i.e., Matt here!) as well as for my ability to link to stories posted by the local paper (sometimes combined in one post, like with the recent King Arthur's update).

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Be safe, hope you're healthy, and thank you for the excellent local journalism you do.

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Do they not know about this Covid-19 thing going around?

What is the official word? Can we go to places with crowds or not? Schools are closed, we can only eat outside, Social distancing etc.

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You are able to socially distance even in a large gathering. Mask usage was close to 100%. People absolutely know. But we marched because transphobia and racism are a deadly combination that leads to horrific hate crimes and we are determined to end them both.

In Mass the guidelines for businesses to reopen are fairly detailed but if your question is "what can I do" your best bet is to read the CDC guidelines and figure out what your risk level is.

I've been to multiple public protests including this one yesterday. And you could pick your level of risk and choose how close you wanted to be to people. And outdoors is far safer than indoors because air circulation dissipates viral load.

I had a Covid test after the anti racism protest that had over 10k people and it was negative. It's possible to protest safely.

And outdoors is far safer than indoors because air circulation dissipates viral load. Wear a mask. Stay 6 feet apart. And stand up to injustice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/6/13/21290106...

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Lowest risk: Virtual-only activities, events, and gatherings.

More risk: Smaller outdoor and in-person gatherings in which individuals from different households remain spaced at least 6 feet apart, wear cloth face coverings, do not share objects, and come from the same local area (e.g., community, town, city, or county).

Higher risk: Medium-sized in-person gatherings that are adapted to allow individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and with attendees coming from outside the local area.

Highest risk: Large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least 6 feet apart and attendees travel from outside the local area.

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he literally addresses distance in the first sentence

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Not a lot of social distancing going on.
Those people are ignoring the risks.

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Oh sorry, I thought you asked a legitimate question, but you're just being a (not so) crypto racist troll.

I was there. People were masked, outside and socially distant.

Now I understand that you don't actually care if people do or don't get Covid, you're just shitting on their right to free speech and using that as an excuse. I get it now.

That's cool. You should stay in your comfort zone of concern trolling.

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What is your problem?
I'm a racist because I don't think it's smart to be in large crowds, like the CDC says?
And you call me a troll? Go get your head examined.

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...a fig-leaf-wearing concern troll, and you are fooling exactly nobody.

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I said the exact same thing about the people protesting to open things up.
Covid -19 doesnt care why people are gathering, only people do.
Stay safe.

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how important people consider this issue that they're willing to risk their own health to promote it, huh

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Covid is far less deadly for certain groups than violence from anti-trans bigots.

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I completely understand why someone would assume the risks of attending marches/demonstrations/events to support the cause of trans rights (or for that matter, supporting anyone suffering great injustice - ie BLM etc).

But it's not cool to ignore or mis-state those risks.

There are no statistics of Covid victims that break out the number who are transpeople. But there's no reason to think they're less likely to succumb to the disease than non-trans. If we assume the commonly quoted rate that 0.3% of US adults are trans, then that would be roughly 350 transfolk dying of Covid so far this year (which is only halfway done).

Various trans advocacy sites state that in the 12 months of 2018 there were 36 transpeople who are known to have been killed as a result of hate crime. That's a 20:1 difference!

(Btw, the numbers are even harsher for other groups - the number of people abused/killed by police violence should make every American sick to our stomachs and hopping mad, but at present rates it would take many decades of police abuse to equal the number of people being killed by Covid so far this year, regardless of skin color).

Covid has killed more than 1 out of every 3000 Americans in just six months.

Imo, anyone who believes that they're not significantly raising their risk of infection by attending a march or demonstration - regardless of mask wearing or whether its sunny out - is misled. The research supporting the idea that outside transmission is rare comes from a single, China-based, non-peer reviewed study (all of those are poor indicators of reliability). That study was looking at a highly controlled - certainly non-demonstrating! - population. (and btw, those researchers considered transmission during travel on mass transit and in vehicles to be 'inside transmission'!)

Demonstrate against injustice, show solidarity with the causes you support. But I think you shouldn't lie to yourself about the risks you are assuming when you do so, for both yourself and for others in your life.

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Covid has killed more than 1 out of every 3000 Americans in just six months.

I really wish this weren't true, but I'm pretty sure more than 1 out of every 3000 trans women die of violence, particularly black trans women.

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Don't confuse per-year with per-lifetime.

Given the numbers I referenced above, there are about 990,000 transfolk in the US, and about 1 out of every 28000 is murdered in a hate crime each year. If deaths from Covid19 continue at their current rate (and most indications are that they're increasing!), then it will kill 1 out of every 1400 transpersons this year.

You see? Right here, right now, in the universe we all inhabit, a transperson is 20 times more likely to die from Covid19 than to be murdered by hate crime. This does not make the crime any less detestable, nor does it mean moral people should not be outraged and advocating for an end to this horrible injustice. It does mean we should be honest about the risks that we are taking, not just for ourselves, but for those closest to us, if we choose to disregard best practices during a global pandemic.

(btw, if we never get a reliable vaccine for Covid (which I admit seems unlikely, but we really don't know yet), and the death rate continues as it is, then the death-by-Covid rate for all Americans will approach more than 1 in 40 lifetime - or 2.5x as high as one's chance of dying in a car accident). Or higher, if it turns out infection does not confer immunity for more than a year or two. Then the number approaches something around 1 in 8.

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That's some nice privilege ya got there...try recognizing it, and you'll answer your own question.

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You want to highlight your racism? Someplace else, please.

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Why do you need to boast? Couldn’t the comment just have been deleted?

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I'm letting a person who has gone to the trouble of registering an account here why I've deleted his/her comment.

But maybe let's talk about yesterday's march (just without the racism)?

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Here's a video of the march coming into Nubian Square. This was after hours of a rally and marching down from Franklin Park. It was an extraordinary event. I heard multiple people say it was better than any Boston Pride parade they had ever been to.

https://youtu.be/bsPHldM_tfM

Anyone can make a donation to the Trans Emergency Fund here: https://transgenderemergencyfund.org/

#blacktranslivesmatter

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