The National Center for Transgender Equality joins with millions across the United States and around the world in remembering the tragic assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. half a century ago today. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was shot in Memphis, Tennessee. The previous night, he had given a sermon on his vision for the future. Tonight, at 7:07 p.m.—the exact time when Dr. King was killed—bells will toll across the nation and around the globe 39 times to mark the 39 years of his life.
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, Director of External Relations at the National Center for Transgender Equality, issued the following statement:
“King remains a gigantic figure in our nation's history who inspired millions to challenge segregation and bigotry, and who helped forge new laws including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. His legacy has a profound meaning for those of us who continue to work for a more perfect union for all. As a national advocacy organization for transgender people, NCTE is aware that overcoming pervasive discrimination, mistreatment, and violence requires us to take the view that the transgender movement must also be an anti-racism movement.
“Poverty, unemployment and biased policing were matters Dr. King worked ferociously to improve during his time. Our 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found significant disparities for Black and other transgender people of color respondents in the United States. One in five Black respondents were unemployed, two in five were living in poverty, and two-thirds felt uncomfortable engaging with law enforcement. NCTE is committed, in conjunction with other civil rights organizations and leaders, to work to improve the lives of all people in the United States in the spirit of Dr. King's own work. May his memory have meaning for us all.”
