In the days after the election of President-elect Trump, the rate of
hate crimes in America rose to higher levels than we have not seen since after the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001.
While the targets of these attacks have ranged from crimes based on race, gender, and even perceived and actual country of origin, another group within the LGBTQ has faced some of the highest rates of violence than nearly all other groups - the transgender person in contemporary American society, and these individuals transcend so many other identities.
So, as we have done each year, the Grand Rapids Pride Center and the newly formed
Grand Rapids Trans Foundation invite the public to join them at the Trans Day of Remembrance service on Nov. 20.
Sunday is the day we honor those lost by celebrating their lives and contributions in our city, but also to ensure that those whose lives were lost via acts of anti-transgender violence will one day be seen as full citizens of these (somewhat) United States.
Scheduled to speak on this day is Jeynce Poindexter, Victim Advocate for Equality Michigan and the Lead Organizer of Black Lives Matter Kalamazoo’s Max T Issac.
And while we as a society appear to have become comfortable with each year’s rising temperatures as related to climate change, it is worth saying that we as society should in no way ever become cold to the reality that 2016 has become the deadliest year for our trans and gender non-conforming community.
Admission: Free