Transgender Day of Remembrance 2024

Again this year I celebrated the Transgender Day of Remembrance at the adult fishing pool at Tingley Beach. But this year I had support from some of my transgender friends and my church. Despite some communication problems, we had ten people (!) this year. I expanded the vigil program slightly.

We began with Death Be Not Proud by John Donne. I followed that again with All Too Human by Andrea Lena DiMaggio.

Then we did the reading of names. This year there were 30 names on the list from the Human Rights Campaign. https://www.hrc.org/resources/fatal-violence-against-the-tra...

Six of us took turns reading names while a couple others stood just across the spillover rivulet and tossed in little blossoms of hydrangeas.

1. Quanesha Shantel
2. Santonio "San" Coleman
3. Honee Daniels
4. Kassim Omar
5. Redd, also known as Barbie,
6. Vanity Williams
7. Tai’Vion Lathan
8. Dylan Gurley
9. Monique Brooks
10. Kenji Spurgeon
11. Shannon Boswell
12. Pauly Likens
13. Liara Tsai
14. Jazlynn Johnson
15. Yella (Robert) Clark Jr.
16. Michelle Henry
17. Brandon "Tayy Dior" Thomas
18. Reyna Hernandez
19. Kita Bee
20. Starr Brown
21. Sasha Williams
22. Andrea Doria Dos Passos
23. River Nevaeh Goddard
24. Tee "Lagend Billions" Arnold
25. África Parrilla García
26. Meraxes Medina
27. Alex Taylor Franco
28. Diamond Brigman
29. Righteous TK “Chevy” Hill
30. Kitty Monroe

Another person read a version of No Man is An Island, also by John Donne.

No man (Or woman) is an island,
Entire of itself;
Each of us is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Our continent is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.

Any person’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in humankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

Then we took a moment to remember Nex Benedict and the many others who were worn down by the bullying and discrimination and committed suicide.

Finally, we sang two verses of a classic country song.

May the Circle Be Unbroken A.P. Carter and the Carter Family

I was standing by my window
On a cold and cloudy day
When I saw the hearse come rolling
For to carry my sister away.

Will the circle be unbroken
By and by Lord, by and by
There's a better home awaiting
In the sky Lord, in the sky.

I was standing by my window
On a cold and cloudy day
When I saw the hearse come rolling
For to carry my brother away.

Will the circle be unbroken
By and by Lord, by and by
There's a better home awaiting
In the sky Lord, in the sky.

There's a better home awaiting
In the sky Lord, in the sky...

My church gave further support by holding a transgender themed service the following Sunday. The message was an interview with me and another transgender woman. She and I read the same names during the service.

These people are gone but not forgotten. And their loss inspires us to continue the struggle for equal rights and fair treatment by society and the law.