By Juniper Curtis
Tallahassee, FL – On November 20, organizers and community members gathered for Trans Day of Remembrance, a day of resistance and mourning for the countless lives lost to transphobia.
The event, hosted by Capital Tea Tallahassee and cosponsored by local organizations, offered a chance for reflection and resistance. As Trump’s attacks on transgender people continue to escalate, speakers like Delilah Pierre, president of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), highlighted the unacceptable impacts of transphobia, and the hope she sees in our movement.
“I don’t think there are any trans suicides. I think it’s all murder. I think there is an intentional effort engineered by a few people in our country, some of the most racist, reactionary, transphobic people, to make life as horrible as us as possible, but I’m glad we’re all here, because that’s not true. We’re here, we’re living! We’re together! We’re fighting together, we’re standing together,” said Pierre.
Between speakers, local drag queens performed, demonstrating that even in times of darkness the trans community will not be silenced. Dancing on stage, they honored the trans people left behind, and gave a glimpse of the future we can fight to achieve.
“On Trans Day of Remembrance, we remember those who we lost, but we also have to look forward. We have to look forward to creating a world where we no longer need to read the names of those we lost in the past year. We need to look forward to a world where we are all free,” said Alice Bostwick, speaking on behalf of Tally SDS.
Finishing the event, Janel Diaz, executive director of Capital Tea Tallahassee, led the crowd in a candle lighting ceremony. As attendees stood together, Jae Douglas, also from Capital Tea, spoke the names of the 300 transgender people lost this year. Once the list was read, the crowd blew out their candles all at once, a quiet moment of solidarity in the fight against transphobia.
#TallahasseeFL #FL #LGBTQ #Trans #TransDayOfRemembrance
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