Transgender Day of Remembrance: Honoring those lives lost

Unlike the highly visible Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV) where in 2017 Grand Rapidians en force displayed a stunning 100+ transgender flags all over the city at area businesses, nonprofits, and places of worship, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is a more somber occasion as it commemorates the lives of those lost within a  community that has for so many centuries suffered in silence.

On Monday, Nov. 20, the Grand Rapids Pride Center, Grand Rapids Trans Foundation, and the TDoR Committee will once again return to the Goei Center for the 2017 Trans Day of Remembrance ceremony. 

At this event, you can expect what you might at any other vigil as community members mourn, remember, and honor the lives of those members of our community who are no longer with us in this life. 

Hate crimes against transgender people have always been an issue, but over the last two years these attacks have been escalating with Michigan being named as number four in crimes against people because of their race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation or gender identity. In fact as reported, in Kent County alone, for all our advances in the region that are worth celebrating, we had 10 hate crimes in 2016,  making us the worst county in the state. (We can and should do better.)

The TDoR event is a time of sorrow and reflection, but also presents an opportunity for our community of transgender and nonbinary folks to gather with other supportive members of our city. Gatherings like this enable these diverse populations to leverage this event to build community and truly inspire others to join them in the  creation of a better, safer region, state, world. 

This year’s guest speakers include:

Jeynce Mizrahi – victim advocate for Equality Michigan, founding board member of the Trans Sistas of Color Project (Detroit), and a member of the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Kyn E. – Grand Rapids Pride Center’s group facilitator.

Maxwell T. Isaac – lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Kalamazoo, and a community organizer who centers racial equity, LGBTQIAP advocacy, stigma reduction, and anti-bias praxis in his work.

For more info on the event, please visit their event page.