The room at Out Boulder County was literally overflowing with support on Sunday to mourn the loss of LGBTQ lives.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is held every year on Nov. 20 to honor the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of violence over the last year. Along with the at least 381 transgender people across the world remembered on Sunday, Out Boulder County and the community also mourned the mass shooting at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs that took place the night before.
Five people were killed in the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs and 25 others were injured. The attack is being investigated as a hate crime. At least one of the victims, who has been identified by his parents as Daniel Aston, 28, was transgender.
Out Boulder County Executive Director Mardi Moore acknowledged that while LGBTQ people are no stranger to violence, each incident devastates the entire community.
“What do we do with all of the grief and the hurt and the rage that these killings provoke within us?” Moore said. “All day and even now, I want to cry and shout: ‘Stop killing trans people. Stop killing members of our community.’ We are wonderful, brilliant, pretty great people and we deserve to live lives full of love and opportunity without fear of being killed for who we are or who we love.”
Colorado Rep. Brianna Titone, the first openly transgender state legislator elected in Colorado, spoke to the rise in anti-trans rhetoric by politicians that sets the stage for violence like the Colorado Springs shooting.
“The right wing rhetoric machine is fueling this violence, that LGBT folks are somehow ‘dangerous,’” Titone said. “I don’t see a lot of danger coming from this crowd; I see a lot of love coming from this crowd. This is an evil that must be destroyed. They have the blood of the victims on their hands. There’s no other way of saying it.”
The shooting also highlighted to Titone the growing threat against the safe spaces that LGBTQ people have created for their communities, including places like Out Boulder County. Titone asked the audience to not let hatred and fear drive them away.
“Safe spaces are critical for LGBTQ people to thrive and those spaces are coming under attack more and more,” she said. “We’re not going to allow transphobic and homophobic people to take those spaces away from us.”
Rev. Nicole Garcia, a board member at Out Boulder County and transgender Latina, reflected that call to continue demanding acknowledgement and protection. Transgender women of color, and especially Black transgender women, face some of the highest levels of discrimination and are most likely to be targeted in violent attacks.
“We are here together because we are not afraid,” she said. “We will not go into the shadows. We will not back down. We will not give up our rights. We will not stay at home. We will not be afraid. We will stand up and we will be counted. If you can’t hear me, I’ll scream even louder: I am here! I will not be quiet. I will not stop preaching. I will not stop telling you that my life matters. Your life matters. Our lives matter.”
Chris Angel Murphy, a trans and non-binary speaker, encouraged members of the LGBTQ community to take care of themselves as they processed this event. They also encouraged people who would be going home soon for the holidays and possibly interacting with unsupportive family members to reach out to their support networks and remember that they are not alone.
As for allies to the LGBTQ community, Murphy encouraged people to listen and connect with queer people, stand up for others when they are not around and donate if they can to the verified fundraisers for victims of the Club Q shooting.
Moore acknowledged while Sunday was for mourning, there was a lot more work to do.
“Tonight we will honor the lives that we have lost, but we know that remembering our dead is simply not enough,” Moore said. “I and the rest of the Out Boulder County team, like so many of you, work daily to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people and to keep them alive.”
Candles had to be shared during the reading of the names of the transgender victims of violence at the end of the ceremony as the audience spilled out of the room. According to Charlie Prohaska, communication and trans programming coordinator for Out Boulder County, last year’s Transgender Day of Mourning had about 50 attendees, while this year saw more than 150.
Speakers expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support and encouraged allyship with the transgender and other members of the LGBTQ community as they continue to face rising violence and bigotry.
“You know that I’ve got your back, and I hope you got mine because they’re not going to take a target off my back anytime soon,” Titone said.
