Members of the Richmond community gathered on Nov. 20 for Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) vigil to honor lives lost due to acts of anti-transgender violence this year.
In a chilly, candle-lit Stern Plaza, the ceremony began with opening remarks from associate director of the Hub for Student Inclusion and Community Casey Butler, who acknowledged Richmond’s history as the capital of the Powhatan confederacy and violence and oppression that has since persisted.
Butler explained the history of TDOR, which was started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith in 1999 as a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman killed in November 1998.
“This week is focused on increasing understanding about transgender people and the issues our community members face,” Butler said.
“Within the past year, there were 367 [transgender] deaths recorded worldwide, 270 of which were due to anti-transgender violence,” Butler continued. In addition to transgender safety, they explained that access to documentation, restrooms, healthcare, education and representation has been attacked in several nations.
Butler said it was important to honor and remember the transgender lives taken prematurely and expressed hope for a future where everyone is celebrated, affirmed and supported.
The student guest speaker for the ceremony was preceded by the Richmond Chords, an all gender a capella group, who performed “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith.
Student guest speaker, Senior Jasmine Khatcheressian, is an activist for the transgender community on campus. She is a previous Westhampton College senator, executive member of the LGBTQ+ Coalition and Inclusive Pedagogy, a consultant at the faculty hub, and facilitator of Kaleidoscope, a group for transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming students.
“I am filled with gratitude that our community is always able to come together like this, both to grieve and support each other, especially now, ” she said.
As a summer intern for the Richmond nonprofit “He She Ze and We,” Khatcheressian had the opportunity to be a mentor and provide support from both a social and medical standpoint. Khatcheressian explained how a young transgender girl spoke to her about the way she was treated by classmates at school, and they discussed strategies for dealing with disrespect on an interpersonal level.
Khatcheressian explained that the girl was not worried about legal or medical status.
“What she was worried about was that she had this understanding that she did not belong,” Khatcheressian said,” And she knew in a very real way, despite being,however old you are in fourth grade, that people knowing you’re trans can be dangerous, and that is scary,”
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Khatcheressian said that she has faced both discouraging and affirming experiences during her four years as a transgender student at Richmond, and amidst despair, there is always positive movement to be made.
Community members listened to speakers honoring the lives of transgender people.
Vigil keynote speaker Gavin Grimm, a Virginia-based socialist, writer, speaker and revolutionary, became a publicly known figure after suing his high school in Gloucester, VA for banning him from the boys restroom with help from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“How can we create a world where such somber rituals will no longer be possible because we will not have a long list of trans people whose lives have been lost to hate and rhetoric-driven violence or state repression?” Grimm said.
Grimm explained that in the past year, he has gained a new perspective and methodology for understanding the struggles faced by transgender people and how to solve them. He said that initially he advocated for legislation and politicians whom he thought would protect the interests of LGBTQ+ people, but the first Trump administration shifted his perspective when transgender advocacy, traditionally from the democratic party, was not present.
In addition to President Donald Trump, Grimm meticulously criticized left-leaning figures, including Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, saying basic transgender rights are not being defended by either major political party.
“The party that I thought would fight for my community folded on the issue of trans rights so quickly and completely that it felt foolish that I ever believed the claim,” Grimm said.
He believes there are many ways in which capitalism fails the working class and that a socialist revolution must be global and led exclusively by a principled working class educated in history and the science of Marxism.
“We insist that all the great problems confronting humanity in the 21st century, war, poverty and social inequality, the drive towards fascism and dictatorship by governments internationally, are the outcome of capitalism,” Grimm said. “And can only be addressed through the taking of political power by the working class and its establishment of a socialist society founded on genuine equality.”
Grimm closed, saying that he was announcing the formal end to his role as an activist in order to embrace his work as a revolutionary socialist instead.
Butler then passed out flowers with the names, ages, and cities of victims of anti-transgender violence to attendees who consecutively stood and read them aloud.
The Rev. Jamie Lynn Haskins, Chaplain for Spiritual Life and Communications Director at the university, acknowledged the pain that the transgender community has suffered while emphasizing that each unique person matters and belongs.
“What doesn’t fade is the choice we will make tomorrow and the day after; the choice to build a world where trans people don’t just survive, but they thrive; where their lives aren’t measured by their tragedy but by their wholeness, their joy, their utterly ordinary, and even boring right, to exist,” Hoskins said.
Senior Thomas Luschen reflected on the vigil saying it was important for bringing awareness to the violence inflicted on transgender people. “Even if you’re not trans, you should know about it so you can do something about it and you can hear people that have been affected by it,” he said.
When asked for a message he took away from the ceremony, Luschen said, “Care for people. Just be an empathetic person.”
Butler explained that it was a community effort to plan the vigil and highlighted the importance of hosting events for transgender visibility. Butler hopes to play a role in creating a sense of belonging and freedom for transgender students to show up as their authentic selves at UR.
“We need to remember and mourn those we’ve lost,” Butler said. “Really shining a light on the violence that our community experiences, but then at the same time celebrating our visibility and resilience and community.”
Contact visual editor Gillian Morano at gillian.morano@richmond.edu
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