A gathering Wednesday evening was to remember those Americans who have died due to anti-transgender violence, but just as significantly, to celebrate the loved ones still coping and living as a transgender or nonbinary person subjected to potential bullying and violence, including Clyde Macioszek.
Macioszek has plenty of friends who are trans, and “I am trans myself,” admitting that it has been difficult at times because of how people have responded to the Batavia resident.
“I think it’s important to remember the ones we’ve lost and sort of make a community to bring them together, of other trans people or allies, to sort of make sure we don’t lose more, and to sort of know the importance of these people and the lives that they lived,” Macioszek said during the fourth annual local vigil of International Transgender Day of Remembrance. “It’s affected me very negatively, and I sort of try to hide it from a lot of people due to the negative view on trans people. I think it helps spread a little bit of awareness, and I think it really just helps build community.”
Organizers from GLOW-OUT! and Brockport Pride Association believed this was the largest gathering so far of an estimated 50 or so people. Macioszek and Nate Clarke carried flags with the transgender colors of blue, pink and white and candles were distributed for the ceremony.
Lauren Berger, the new secretary for GLOW-OUT! and a member of the Brockport group, reminded everyone that the reason they’re gathered is to support their trans friends and loved ones and remember those lost to transgender violence.
The day began as a memorial service for Rita Hester in November 1997, and a group of trans women in San Francisco began to commemorate those lost to anti-trans violence two years later, with the tradition continuing on and growing internationally ever since.
These same types of ceremonies were happening all over the country and in Puerto Rico, she said. A list of names of those killed, or whose bodies were found, from fall 2023 to November of this year was read aloud.
“They had families, friends, and communities who loved them. They struggled with issues that affect millions of Americans — substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, incarceration, domestic violence and bullying,” she said. “But unlike cisgender Americans, they also faced transphobia. We owe it to their memory and to our future to recognize the importance of supporting our transgender siblings, community members and friends. We must celebrate those still with us, and remember those lost.”
One by one, followed by reading each name, was the age, and most were startlingly young — from age 14 and several in their 20s up to a handful in their 50s. There were 69 people, and they were the ones reported and living in the United States, organizers’ data stated. There are more than 300 victims from around the world, according to tdor.translivesmatter.info. There was no one from Genesee County; however, the very first name was Allen O’Donnell, 20, of Brockport, who died on Oct. 1, 2023.
As the names were read, a glowing colored candle was placed on the courthouse steps. It was a demonstration of how quickly and tragically life had been taken as steps filled up with color. A message was shared through U.S. Senator Corey Booker’s quote: “hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word.”
“GLOW-OUT! really started doing the Trans Day of Remembrance vigil, because it's something that lots of groups are doing all over the world because of the remembrance event. But over the years, in our experience doing it, we've really tried to strike a balance of that phrase you might have heard or seen as not just mourn the dead, but fight for the living. That whole balance of coming together in remembrance, and there's a real solemnity to that,” Berger said. “And we're mourning, this is really sad. A lot of names on this list, they're very young, you know? It's just really tragic. And so there really can be … the sense of despair, or that it's really kind of just adding to feeling kind of deflated, or like, okay, this was really depressing, I just went to a funeral, now what? And so over the years, we've really aimed to strike more of a balance to give folks something that is the reason for hope, the reason for looking forward to tomorrow, the reason to be proud of the resilience and the survival of the people that are in our lives still and from there, it was really easy to shift in this mindset, content-wise, that we are here in remembrance and in mourning, but we also have the opportunity to love and support people while they're alive.”
GLOW-OUT! broadly defines “transgender” as anyone whose gender identity or expression is outside of societal norms. At the same time “nonbinary” means a person who does not identify with either male or female – or may experience fluidity in that regard. Some transgender or nonbinary people might take medications or have surgeries to affirm their gender; others might not.
In the US, transgender and nonbinary people are bullied, homeless, incarcerated, and targets of violence at much higher rates than their cisgender (non-trans) peers, the nonprofit said. These experiences contribute to the additional truth that transgender and nonbinary people are more likely to consider, attempt, and complete suicide than cisgender people.
That’s another big reason for the vigil: to promote awareness and transgender advocacy of available resources, including GLOW mental health programs, crisis hotlines and a trans lifeline, and several other related support groups.
“All of these norms that are so violent and negative are what people have been told is what they should be feeling. And so when we are coming together in the spirit of who you are is valuable. Who you are matters. You are worthy of love and acceptance and joy exactly as you are. That's running counter to this narrative that some people might hear, directly or indirectly. And it also is this idea that we, again, are remembering the dead. However, we also are here for people who are still alive and people who aren't, who are not here yet, that we are going to fight for as a community with as much love as anybody else deserves,” Berger said. “So, to see more people than any other year just tells me that even though we're still dealing with this violence, we're still dealing with transphobia and sadness, we also are seeing more resilience and response and people saying that they're not going to tolerate that in their house, in their community, in their schools, in their towns. And that's stronger than ever, which is really encouraging.”
For more information, go to glowout.org.
Photos by Joanne Beck.
