Salt Lake Community College’s Gender & Sexuality Student Resource Center (GSSRC) honored the national Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) on Nov. 20 with a presentation and an unveiling of a monument to recognize and support transgender members of the SLCC community.
The quote, “How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race” by Marsha P. Johnson was suggested by Professor Anthony Nocella and chosen by President Deneece Huftalin. The quote will be engraved on a rock in the courtyard of South City Campus, along with a bronze plaque placed nearby that reads: “In recognition of our transgender students, faculty, and staff.”
Students, faculty, and community members all gathered to not only honor the lives lost to anti-transgender violence and discrimination, but to celebrate those lives as well. “We are all sisters and brothers. We are all connected. We all matter. And we want to make sure our transgender community, our students, our faculty, our staff, their allies, all understand that they are respected, they are valued and that they belong at SLCC,” said President Huftalin during the unveiling.
TDoR is an annual observance that honors the memory of transgender individuals who have lost their lives due to anti-transgender violence, and serves as a reminder of the discrimination and violence that transgender people face globally. It was first recognized in November of 1999, where a vigil was held in Boston to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a black transgender woman who was murdered.
Every year since, the day is commemorated to remember all the transgender people who were lost to violence or suicide. This year there are 362 transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse people who have died all around the world, with 84 of those in the United States, and four in Utah. “Many of these deaths are underreported because a lot of these individuals have lost their support systems, are unsheltered and are unaccounted for,” said Nick Arteaga, an SLCC alum and ACLU transgender rights strategist.
“Unfortunately, we live in a society that has normalized the dehumanization of trans people. Regardless of what has been taught and what society has conditioned us to believe, transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse people are worthy of living lives that are full of love, laughter, kindness, and compassion,” said Nick.
Two students in Professor Elisa Stone’s Gender Studies class participated in a midterm project where they read names of 20 of the more than 300 transgender people that lost their lives during the last year. “Often these people are just statistics or just numbers, or even misrepresented in the media,” says Allyssa Worthen, who read some of the names along with brief descriptions during the presentation. “I'm just glad that I was able to help them be remembered and honored in some way.”
Some of the names that were read included Jasmine “Star” Mack, a 36-year-old transgender woman who was fatally stabbed on January 7, 2023, in Washington, D.C., making her to be the first trans person to be murdered this year. Her sister Camilla called her boisterous, sweet, a little wild, and a talented singer.
Also names of those closer to home were remembered, such as Ome Ghandi, a 16-year-old transgender girl from Utah who was killed in a murder-suicide by her father. Ome was described as kind, thoughtful, humorous, and had an infectious laugh.
Peter Moosman, coordinator of the GSSRC, shared with the group about the resource center that offers support to those in the community. “When you walk in the door, you see to your right a big sign that says, ‘You Belong Here’ on the wall. And it's true and we try to live by that,” said Peter. “Because as we are remembering the trans community that we've lost today, I hope that it's also a reminder that we can't give up on each other. And for those of us that are still here, we can't give up on each other and we need to fight for each other.”
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| Olivia Jaramillo, Elise Stone, Nick Arteaga, and Peter Moosman |
Olivia Jaramillo, director of Public Outreach at Equality Utah, led the audience in a moment of silence at the end of the event. She shared her own personal story about growing up in Mexico and how it was not safe to be a transgender person, but that she had a friend who was brave and had transitioned before her.
“When she came out, she was thrown out of her house and she landed in all of those places that you hear about. She landed on the streets, she worked on the streets and she was killed on the streets. And it was really sad. I always think that could’ve been me. And even now I think that could be any of us because we lost four lives in the state of Utah in the last year,” said Olivia.
“Maybe you didn't know those people that were taken from us here in Utah. But I want you to reach that point of empathy within your life. I want you to know what it's like to do something difficult in your life, because it is difficult to transition. We have so much support. It's the best time ever to be transgender but it's still so difficult. We need allies, we need people to support us,” Olivia said.
The event aimed not only to commemorate those who have suffered and died, but also to foster an understanding and empathy for those in transgender community. The monument will serve to acknowledge SLCC’s support of the transgender community both symbolically and permanently at the College.
“As a student, I'm just so glad that now we have a [monument] that actually supports the trans community. This semester felt like a struggle to be an LGBT student here but I can see the school really supports us and that's really nice,” Allyssa said.
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