on the Temple main campus, followed by the reading of names of those trans folks who lost their lives to violence. Trans activist and Temple University student Kendall Stephens is organizing a vigil on Nov. I use it as a time to talk about, so honor our lives every day and celebrate our lives every day.”

In some ways, it feels like a day of mourning but sometimes that’s the thing that heals us to do something different.

“It’d be nice to just live instead of having to think about what we will survive, or have to thrive. “It also is a day where we’re aware of our resilience as a community, whether we want to have to remain resilient,” he said. The 36 grant recipients of the Arcila-Adams Black Empowerment Fund will also be announced at the event.įor McLean, TDOR is not just a day to remember those whose lives were stolen. It will consist of a meetup with food, a clinical therapist who will speak to attendees about how they incorporate astrology and tarot into their practice, as well as conversations about “what visibility would look like to us and what it would mean to have our lives celebrated every day,” McLean said. “We sometimes need a break from that to figure out how we want to heal ourselves, maintain ourselves, to motivate us, to keep going or just to hold each other up.”ĭarius McLean, who runs the Arcila-Adams Trans Resource Center at William Way LGBT Community Center, is planning a private TDOR event for Morris Home residents on Nov. “Sometimes it does get a little daunting to constantly be like, fight, fight, fight,” they added. Not only have murder rates been sources of tragedy in trans communities, the loss of employment, lack of stable or affordable housing and financial uncertainty are also roots of anxiety and sadness, Golphin said. Not going to say this is a safe space, I’m going to say this is a brave space because we have yet to have spaces that aren’t solely trans people - our spaces don’t have to but do include cis folk.” She wants the silent march and TDOR space to be “a healing space. “We should be fighting for that life expectancy to be the same as our cis counterparts,” said Valentina Rosario-DeJesus, who leads the Transgender, Intersex, Non-binary and Gender Non-conforming Services program at GALAEI. They spoke of the need to protect trans community members in the face of continued murders of trans people in the U.S. “Trans Day of Resistance, or Trans Day of Resilience or Trans Day of Remembering - I feel like with the ‘R’ you can use so many terms.”

In addition to memorializing those who are no longer with us, “What I think should also be centered on instead of sadness, should be a day of - how do we put up a fight,” said PTM organizer Bri Golphin. PTM organizers are working on securing pop-up CBOs in the vicinity of Norris Square Park and GALAEI, where community members can gather after the march. The QTBIPOC social justice org GALAEI will provide space after the event to help trans and nonbinary folks connect with community-based organizations (CBOs) and Black-owned businesses. 20, Philly Trans March (PTM) organizers will lead a “silent march and community-guided scream” at Norris Square Park at 1 p.m. “I’m proud to fight every single day to ensure that our trans community is safe, protected, and respected.”

“Trans Day of Remembrance is not just a time to remember those in the transgender community whose lives have been lost to violence, marginalization, and prejudice, but also a time to renew our commitment to creating a brighter future for our trans community,” Celena Morrison, director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, said in a statement. The City’s Office of LGBT Affairs will raise the trans flag at City Hall on Friday, Nov. 20, Philadelphia community organizers will honor and fight for trans lives through different events. On and around Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), which falls annually on Nov. Trans community members and allies will come together later this month to mourn trans lives that have been lost to violence and hatred.

Trans day of remembrance 2021