Speech by Markie Anne Wenzel at the 2012 Milwaukee Transgender Day of Remembrance. Her themes are healing, forgiveness, faith, and fear.
Resilience, Healing, and Hope
by Markie Anna Wenzel
As One who has been down the path of Transgender Transition, and Making my way in the world. I have endured Hurt, Heartache, and people trying to bring me down and destroy Me.
I have faced my trials, and felt the hurt, and endured the humiliations at the hands of others, Because the of Man is desperately wicked.
I have not had to fight or suffer to the point of death, as those we have come to honor and remember this evening.
On my Journey though, I Have had to face My Pain. In my Transformation I have found the ability to have resilience the ability to conform back in to form as myself and keep going forward. And this by the means of forgiveness. To cancel my offenders debt toward me, and mark them paid in full. And go forward from there to continue to live my life.
My healing comes when forgiveness is transacted and I allow my wounds to heal without keeping them open nor allowing them to fester. The ointment and bandage is applied and I move on.
And My Hope is in The Lord Jesus Christ. The hope is, as I continue along my life’s road, I can be the best representation of my self to the world.
And that representation would in some way help the world to see. I and other Transgender People are Human Beings worthy of Love, Dignity, snd Respect. People to be treated as children of God Almighty, Made in his likeness and image.
On this Day of remembrance It is my Hope That the Violence would stop, That The Hate would cease. And The Fear would be faced, and dealt with.
Fear Not only on the part of our offenders, but on the part of the members of our community. I have learned my fear, attracts those who would prey upon me.
I have learned That I have needed to learn to face my fear,face to face. And then to make a determination to run and hide behind an excuse. Or to face the fear and deal with it face to face. And in so doing working through the issue, and making it possible to go on and to be successful on my journey.
And to impact and change the minds of others for good. As a result I grow, and get stronger, and become new, having dealt with the fear. As such I have become part of the solution.
My sincere hope and desire is, That one day the world would be rid of the Hate, and Bigotry, that makes this day of remembrance necessary.
My Heart is grieved this evening, for those Whom we remember this evening. And My desire is to become part of the solution to stop this senseless violence.
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This piece of writing was submitted and read at the Milwaukee Wisconsin Transgender Day of Remembrance event on November 19, 2012.