Service Designed To Remember Those Lost To Transgender Violence
A candlelight service was held last Sunday to remember those lost to transgender violence.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Remembering those murdered in 2016 for being transgender, gender-variant individuals, and those perceived to be transgender was the purpose of a candlelight vigil held on Sunday evening at the Oskaloosa Square.
The service was hosted by Crisis Intervention Services, PFLAG, and members from St. Paul Congregational United Church of Christ who helped to make the service possible.
The service began at 6:30 pm at the bandstand, and included approximately 16 individuals, while other groups held candlelight ceremonies around the state, including the state capitol.
The first candlelight vigil was held in 1999 to honor Rita Hester, who was a transgender African-American woman who was murdered in Allston, Massachusetts in 1998.
Following Hester’s murder, the idea for a yearly vigil became a reality soon after, in order to help spread information about the lives and deaths of transgender individuals.
Robin White, who lead the service Sunday evening, said that the guiding principles of the Transgender Day of Remembrance is to think of all who have died due to anti-transgender violence. “It is up to us to remember these people as their killers and law enforcement and the media often seek to erase their existence.”
“Transgender lives are affirmed to have value,” added White. “We can make a difference by being visible and speaking out about anti-transgender violence. We can affect change.”
“We know that we live in a time when the right to live genuine lives without fear of murder is far from guaranteed,” said White. Our world is still a violent one, and we still have a very long way to go, to see anti-transgender violence wiped out.”
White lead those gathered in a word of prayer to remember the transgender victims whose names were read during the service.
After the list of names was read, a short prayer was read, and the group dispersed into the cool early winter evening.
