Several local LGBT groups will work together this weekend to pay tribute to transgender people around the world who’ve been killed due to violence and hatred.
The 12th annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance will be honored in Philadelphia with a series of events that memorialize those who’ve died and also seek to empower the transgender community to fight back against bigotry.
Soda Nobuhle, co-convener of this year’s TDOR events alongside A. Dionne Stallworth, said organizers decided to incorporate a new angle this year, motivated in part by the recent murder of transgender leader Stacey Blahnik.
“Obviously, all years are significant, but this year we wanted to expand our ideology around how we celebrate and pay homage to the people who’ve died,” she said. “We didn’t just want to honor the lives lost but also wanted to educate, because we felt that education is necessary to eradicate hatred. With the murder of Stacey Blahnik, we saw others who wanted to get involved this year to pay tribute to her and I think this education is a way for people to work to resolve this in their own lives.”
The kickoff event was a panel discussion on gender identity and its relationship to other characteristics, like age and race, held from 7-9 p.m. Nov. 18 at Safeguards, 1700 Market St. on the 18th floor.
On Nov. 19, the Transhealth Information Project will host an arts and culture event celebrating the trans community, beginning at 5 p.m. at 21 S. 12th St., on the 10th floor.
Two agencies will sponsor activities on Saturday, one of which is an annual event and another that is new this year.
From 5:30-7 p.m., the community is invited to the Colours Organization Inc., in the second-floor conference room at 112 N. Broad St., for a memorial service to honor those in the trans community who’ve lost their lives — an event that drew more than 200 people last year.
Then, from 7-9 p.m., the University of Pennsylvania will host its inaugural TDOR memorial service in the Carriage House, 3905 Spruce St.
The William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., will host an event Sunday that, while memorializing those who have died, will also celebrate their lives and the community as a whole. The community will gather from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 21 at the center to join in song and dance as a tribute.
Nobuhle noted that non-trans community members are welcomed and encouraged to participate in the weekend’s events.
“In some way, we’ve all been affected by this,” she said. “Just like 9/11, even if we didn’t know the folks who were killed personally, we were still affected. No matter if you’re straight, trans, gender queer or gender variant, that’s not the thought. The thought is that we need to start banding together to decide what we’re going to do about this. Lives have been lost and our spirit has been torn, but we have to do our best to come together and honor those people and have a conversation about how we can work to resolve ignorance that has led to these lives being lost.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].