Members of the trans community and allies will gather this weekend to mourn trans lives lost to violence this past year, while also celebrating the community’s successes.
International Transgender Day of Remembrance will be marked from 6-9 p.m. Nov. 20 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. It is the sixth year for the event, and the 18th for TDoR.
TDoR caps Transgender Awareness Week, which started Nov. 14.
Sharron Cooks, part of the Philadelphia trans leadership planning the TDoR event, said names of those lost to violence in the past year will be read during the program. Organizers will also outline advances made for trans equality.
“Our particular goal is to really unify the trans community to not only remember our community members who have been killed by acts of violence but to also celebrate the successes and progress the trans community has made,” Cooks said, noting current events will also be at the forefront of the gathering. “We want to bring everyone together considering we are going to be living under a Trump-Pence administration. We want to reassure people that we are going to be there for them throughout the duration of this struggle.”
She added that the event will include a call to action for transgender community members to “stand together in alliance with each other” moving forward.
The event will include a community portion that will allow participants to pose questions about any issues they or the community at large may be facing.
“Community members can voice concerns around name changes, what does [Trump’s election] mean for public facilities for trans people,” Cooks said. “There are a lot of social-justice issues we’ve been dealing with politically, so there will be an opportunity during the community time for people in the audience to ask those questions and we’re going to have people in the audience who can answer them. It’s a very uncertain time and people need to be reassured.”
Flowers, décor and refreshments are being provided through donations from Human Rights Campaign, William Way, Philadelphia Family Planning Council, Philladelphia FIGHT and Mazzoni Center.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2023488231210952/.