Brandeis students commemorated Transgender Remembrance Day by discussing different statistics and issues relevant to the transgender community in the Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC) office on Monday, Nov. 19.
The event was organized by the GSC and began with GSC Program Administrator Ryan Mishler introducing the history of Transgender Remembrance Day, which began after Rita Hester, a transgender woman, was killed in 1998.
Around 10 students began the event by sitting on the floor and holding hands with the people next to them. Students lit small electric candles in a moment of silence as Mishler read the names of transgender people who had been killed in the United States this year.
After the names were read, students were encouraged to check in with themselves and discuss their reactions to hearing the list of names. The students were quiet, but after a few minutes, some began to speak about their reactions.
“These pages will grow, it’s just a lot to think about,” said Adrian King, a graduate student in Women’s and Gender Studies ’19.
Students discussed different statistics about how issues such as poverty and HIV adversely affect the transgender community, especially transgender people of color.
Students also focused on how they could support the transgender community, from being willing to ask questions, ignore gender markers and using preferred pronouns, to donating money to organizations or individuals.
Organizers also discussed different organizations to support or stay away from and cited the organizations Black and Pink, which advocates for LGBTQ prisoners, and Trans Lifeline, a trans-lead national hotline, among others as organizations to support. They also listed companies such as Urban Outfitters and Walmart, among others, as organizations to avoid because of homophobic or transphobic company heads or policies.
Mishler also passed out several flyers to the students titled “Being an effective trans ally” and “A love letter to the non-binary community.” The flyers explained how to support transgender people including understanding individual privilege, educating people on trans issues and listening to trans persons’ experiences.
One of the flyers stated, “Being an ally is important. It lets everyone around you know that you are supportive and attentive to the needs of others. Being an ally demonstrates that you want to help change the world for marginalized communities even if you are not necessarily part of a particular group.”
Another flyer encouraged transgender persons to love themselves and to not be afraid to ask for help. Part of it read, “You are not alone. Non-binary folks have existed everywhere, across cultures and across time. You are not alone in your feelings, experiences, and fears. You deserve to be accepted for who you are.”
In an interview with The Brandeis Hoot after the event, Mishler commented on the day of remembrance, “In a world where transgender people are degraded and demeaned on a daily basis, it’s so important to have a space where we can mourn the death in our community together while we support and love each other.”
