In the midst of hatred and criticism from society, the LGBTQIA+ community in San José recognized Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor the lives lived by transgender individuals and celebrate their joy.
Transgender Awareness Week starts a week before Transgender Day of Remembrance, taking place from Nov. 13-19.
This nationally recognized period of time aims at advocating for the transgender community and educating the public on who they are and what they face, according to GLAAD.
San José State’s PRIDE Center kicked off its “2024 Trans, Non-binary, and Gender Expansive Resilience Workshop Series” this past Sunday which featured healing, empowerment and community support presentations in the Student Union ballroom.
The event was in partnership with Silicon Valley Pride and Santa Clara County LGBTQ Affairs, which served as a platform for panelists to talk about the pros and cons of labels as well as navigating challenges that the transgender community faces, according to its Instagram.
Denise Christy, a fourth-year management information systems student, identifies as a transgender woman and hosted a counter-event during Turning Point USA’s event on Nov. 13.
“In 2015, that was the first time I saw a trans woman who actually looked like what I wanted to look like. I didn't know it was even possible,” Christy said. “Her existence was enough to motivate me to transition. But, unfortunately, she took her own life a few years ago
At SJSU, trans students have faced people questioning their existence and perceiving them as a threat to children and the general population in America as seen with recent events from Turning Point USA’s SJSU chapter, according to its Instagram.
On Nov. 13, the first day of Transgender Awareness Week, the Turning Point USA chapter at SJSU hosted an event titled “The Trans Deception” with Chloe Cole, an advocate against transitioning and gender-affirming care, as advertised on its Instagram account.
As an honors student spokesperson for the business department at SJSU, Christy said she took offense to the organization advertising the event within her building.
“I talked a lot with the faculty of women, gender and sexuality studies, and we agreed that the best course of action was don't protest their events, don't even acknowledge it, just host another event at the same time,” she said.
Christy said the event had a successful turnout of around 50 people and focused on celebrating trans positivity and joy.
“I transitioned nine years ago. Back then, everything was different. And I knew about my dysphoria before that point,” Christy said. “But the problem is that there was no good or positive representation. Even the supposed positive representation were painting trans people almost like pity cases that are living a doomed life.”
In 2023, approximately 320 trans people were killed, and 94% of those killed were trans women or trans feminine people, according to The Trans Murder Monitoring report in a Nov. 13, 2023 article from Forbes.
The Santa Clara County Office of LGBTQ Affairs hosted a Trans Day of Remembrance ceremony in The Chapel, in The Alameda district of San José on Nov. 20 which honored 30 transgender lives lost in 2024.
Attendees of the vigil said the names of the individuals who died and laid a flower for each life lost.
They also described each person’s background and story while listeners shed tears and honored in somber silence.
Sera Fernando, a transgender queer Filipina who is an alumna of SJSU, organized the event and said words in memory of the lost lives, while attendees provided flowers on an altar and listened in solemnity.
“During Transgender Day of Remembrance, we take our time to say people's names, those who passed from anti-trans bias,” Fernando said. “Despite the fact that the numbers have gone down since 2021, where we've seen up to 60 trans deaths just here in the nation, seeing it at around 30.”
Out of the deaths reported in the United States and beyond, many of transgender deaths are not included in that data because of misgendering and those who were not publicly out, according to a web page from the National Library of Medicine.
Crystal Haney, a community worker at Queer Silicon Valley, expressed the importance of gathering as a community to remember trans lives.
Queer Silicon Valley is an organization by the BAYMEC Community Foundation supporting the community, amplifying leaders and documenting history of the LGBTQ+ community from Santa Clara County, according to its website.
“For us to come together as a community for over 25 years, because this is the 25th year of Transgender Day of Remembrance, it takes a lot and it shows,” Haney said. “ It shows how strong we are as a community to keep coming back year after year, seeing the amazing people, the shining stars in our community that are no longer sparkling.”
Jimena Ramirez, an immigrant born and raised in Mexico, moved to San José 10 years ago and works directly with the trans community to host events that highlight their pride.
Ramirez read a speech written in Spanish that was translated into English by Daniela Villalobos, a transgender Latina from Los Angeles.
“Each name represents a story, a struggle, a dream that, cut short, will never be forgotten. It is a day to migrate to the past with respect, and to the future with determination,” Ramirez said.
