Transgender Day of Remembrance asks students to recognize those still living

More than 40 students and community members gathered under a street lamp in a circle Wednesday in Dunn Meadow to observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance — a memorial event in honor of who lost their lives due to anti-transgender
violence.

The tradition began in 1999 in San Francisco, where people used a candlelight vigil to commemorate Rita Hester, a transgender women killed in a hate murder in November 1998.

This year, IU Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality co-sponsored the observance with various campus organizations such as the IU Student Association and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Student Support Services Center.

IU participants, along with many those at other college campuses in the United States, observes this memorial moment each November to remind people there are still a lot of transgender issues in this country.

For senior and Indiana Daily Student staffer Jain Waldrip, vice president of SAGE, the day is an opportunity to memorialize a friend, who lost her life due to medical negligence in a hospital.

“The doctor ignored her concerns and saw her as a loathing object rather than a person,”

Waldrip said in the memorial speech.

“For me, Transgender Day of Remembrance is to remember those who have lost their lives due to prejudice and hatred.”

Holding lighted candles, the participants used the moment of silence to send their thoughts to those who have died as they read the names of the victims in turn.

Waldrip said reading the names was important to the observance because it gave recognitions to those who died because of the anti-transgender violence and did not receive a proper memorial.

But for the other speaker, junior Evelyn Smith, the observance has a deeper meaning.

“There is a great significance in using the word ‘remembrance’ to describe this event,” Smith said, “We observe neither the Transgender Day of Mourning nor the Day of Loss. Instead, we gather to memorialize those who have died while celebrating the living transgender people.”

Smith is a member of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals, which consists of minorities who are employed or interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

“Tonight we will remember the dead,” Smith said. “And tomorrow we must not forget those still among the living.”