In October, 2002 17-year-old Eddie Araujo was murdered. Eddie identified as female and often went by the name Gwen. She was reportedly killed after some boys she had had sex with discovered that she was physically a male. Gwen was beaten and strangled and buried in a shallow grave in the woods.
Brandon Teena, a young woman who lived as a man, was the subject of the move "Boys Don't Cry".
Mathew Sheppard was a college student in Wyoming when he was beaten to death because he was gay. His story is told in the play and film "The Laramie Project".
Gwen's mother buried her with her nails and makeup done and wearing a dress.
Oh Christ! They've gone and done it again!
another lost boy another lost girl another lost life
Brandon Teena rides again and fear is holding the reins
Brandon I swear you didn't die in vain
despite all evidence to the contrary, we do remember
I know they've killed Gwen and buried her out in the woods
as if you didn't matter, as if you were never here
but don't believe their lies, their eyes, their innocent pleas
their shaking knees
'cause they've gone and done it again
they've proven how low a human being can go
(never underestimate humanity's ability tobe cruel and stupid)
and Brandon if you see Gwen, tell her we miss her, tell her we're sorry
that they've done it again
and I say "they" because I'm afraid to say "we" because I'm afraid we've
let you down
we should have seen this coming
we should have taught our children better than this
'cause goddamnit there's more to raising a kid than don't sneeze on your
sister and look
both ways before crossing the street
and Gwen you were a beautiful child
yes a child, not yet grown and full of confusion and questions and a strange
power
indigenous to youth
your friends will miss you terribly, even the petty , selfish parts of you
because yes, even these parts carried beauty with them
through your troubled gaze
and your mother will bury you with your makeup and nail polish intact
because she loves you and wants you as beautiful in death as you were in
life
and as you carried beauty
the men who did this carry guilt
and as you carried your secret power
these men now carry the shame of the angels
and I see them now in their shackles and their shame and I wonder
we may be able to punish them, but can we teach them?
or more importantly, can they teach us??
can we learn what we need from them to not make them again?
and these men (I call them men though they are rally no more than boys, as
young
as you, Gwen, and no more in control of their own youthful powers than you
were of yours but these boys on the cusp of hope and potential made some
very bad, grown-up decisions and so these boys must now be men)
and these men, their faces so heavy now
have altered the balance irrevocably
and the powers that brought them this far can take them no further
they have been destroyed, subsumed by their cruelty
and they dance now much more slowly
and their tears are now much more obvious
and they will declaim their innocence as they devise some
misunderstanding to cover their abomination and their anger
now,
I can understand that they were angry
what I can't understand is that somehow they thought killing
was an appropriate expression of this anger
what I can't understand is that somehow there was no one at that place
at that time
no one who questioned the brutal reality unfolding before them
I bet they've got questions now
I can't help you now, Gwen
I can't save you from the violent, silent fears so woven into our culture
all I can offer is this;
I will remember.
I will remember you and what was done
just as I remember Brandon Teena and Mathew Sheppard
I will remember you
and I will tell your stories
and I will hope that next time
this is enough
(c) David McIntire
some web pages about Gwen:
http://www.transgenderlawcenter.org/gwen/index.html
http://www.transyouth.net/stories/gwen_araujo.html