GLOW OUT and the Brockport Pride Association/SUNY Brockport held a vigil on Wednesday evening at the Old Courthouse at 7 Main Street in Batavia as part of the International Transgender Day of Remembrance.
About TDOR | Transgender Day of Remembrance
The vigil included a reading of names of those killed in the United States over the past year. A candle was placed on the steps of the old courthouse after each person’s name was announced. Close to 70 names were read aloud.
“It’s really easy to feel a sense of despair and a sense of grief,” says Lauren Berger, Secretary for GLOW OUT.
“This event started in memoriam for a person that was killed, and her murder is still not solved, but when we do this event, we’re bringing all these people together and we’re trying to strike a balance of mourning the dead, but fighting for the living and honoring and supporting and loving our trans friends and siblings who are still with us and celebrating that too.”
Berger says being joyful is an act of resistance. The world is designed for you to not feel entitled to have any kind of joy, and by existing you’re resisting.
“There are many reasons to have hope and to choose to exist in a way that’s joyful, that is out and proud and be an example for the folks around you and being supportive of youth trans around you. To be that adult that was not there for us when we were a kid. Telling people, we’re going to standby each other, we’re going to stand up not only for our elders and the people we have lost, but the people who are here that we are still fighting for and the people who haven’t come yet.”
The vigil was followed by a free meal of turkey, potatoes, vegetables at the Presbyterian Church fellowship hall at 300 East Main Street, which also hosted a display of art that was submitted in remembrance and support of transgender and nonbinary people.
