PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s LGBTQ community observed the 2024 Transgender Day of Remembrance by honoring those it lost at a ceremony on Wednesday in University City.
“Trans Day of Remembrance is a beautiful day that is so bittersweet,” said Jasper Liem, executive director of the Attic Youth Center, of the event that was founded in 1999 to memorialize members of the trans community lost to violence.
“We have lost such an amazing vibrant community and have lost so many people, some from direct violence, especially our Black and brown siblings, but also through the systemic violence from being excluded and marginalized.”
In a small courtyard at the University of Pennsylvania’s LGBT Center, Liem and other community members gathered in grief, but also with purpose. “We’re hosting a day of wellness for the trans community and their allies,” said Darius McKean, executive director of the William Way LGBT Community Center.
He said this wasn’t just a day of reflection but also a day to plan for the future, amid an increase in negative rhetoric targeting the LGBTQ community. As McKean explained, some trans people have expressed fear of having to go back into the closet, adding that he unfortunately has the same concerns.
“Realistically, I’d love to say we’re not hiding,” he said, “but for some of us, it may not be safe not to hide. And I think that is my fear personally, that some of us will have to do that.”
The uptick in anti-trans rhetoric has people on red alert, according to McKean, who said now more than ever, it’s important to create safe spaces for the community to exist peacefully.
“Depending on where we live, what our support systems look like, where we go to school, access healthcare and have jobs,” said McKean, “I feel like our community feels like targets now and it’s important that we create more safe spaces like this, where we can come together.”
But Liem said hope is not lost, because the kids at the Attic Youth Center are an excellent example of resilience.
“They are such an amazing generation of young folks,” he said “and they’re really teaching us how to advocate for them and ourselves.”
