HANOVER TWP., LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa. — Transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence, and a local event honored those victims.
About 50 people gathered at the Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley on Monday for the ninth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil.
The event, which was also organized by the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project, honored 44 people who were killed from anti-trans violence since last year's vigil.
Volunteers read the 44 names aloud and lit a candle for every person.
Each of the attendees were given a name and story for an individual victim, and were asked to stand when that name was read.
"We do this to recognize that these aren't just names and numbers," said volunteer Brenig Ghorm. "These are people who lived, people who occupied space and were taken from their families and their communities."
What is Transgender Day of Remembrance?
Transgender Day of Remembrance is held every year to honor people victimized by anti-trans violence and educate people about the violence affecting the transgender community.
It was founded in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith, as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a trans woman stabbed to death in Boston the year prior.
Trans people are four times as likely to be the victim of a violent crime as their cisgender counterparts, according to a 2021 study from UCLA Law School’s Williams Institute.
According to a report from the Human Rights Campaign, nine in ten victims of anti-trans violence this year were people of color. More than two third of the victims were trans women.
Among those with a known killer, nearly half were killed by a friend, family member, or an intimate partner, the report read. LGBTQ people overall are more likely to be victims of domestic violence.
'I've lost people and I don't even know them'
Speaker Isabell Porter said during her speech that Transgender Day of Remembrance is her "least favorite day of the year."
"I hate that all day leading up to this remembrance, I'm detached from everyone that I know," Porter said. "I'm sad. And it's really often hard to share the reason why with people who aren't a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and I don't want to have to teach them.
"I just want them to know that I'm sad because I've lost people, and I don't even know them."
"Cherish the tomorrows that we get to have going forward, for not only them, but for yourself."Youth speaker H
Several speakers at the event also referenced the high suicide rate amongst trans people and the importance of taking care of each other.
"The fact that we are here and alive in this moment is a beautiful thing," youth speaker H said. "And although we've lost people, live that tomorrow for them. Cherish the tomorrows that we get to have going forward, for not only them, but for yourself."
Chloe Cole-Wilson, the program coordinator at the Allentown LGBTQ youth center Silk Lehigh Valley, asked everyone in the audience to become more involved in the local LGBTQ community.
"Don't let this time we are all sharing be the last time you spend with us," Cole-Wilson said. "This cannot be the only time we see each other annually. We need to show up for each other."
This year's vigil featured new activity called “Give Them Their Flowers,” in which attendees could write their hopes and fears for the community on flower-shaped pieces of paper.
Eastern PA Trans Equity Project President Corinne Goodwin said previously that she hopes to turn the flowers into an art project.
