In fall 1998 in Massachusetts, Rita Hester — a Black, trans femme individual — was murdered solely because of her trans identity. Hester’s murder inspired Trans Day of Remembrance held on Nov. 20 to honor “transcestors” who were taken too soon while also looking forward to the future of the community.
Since 2013,TransPonder has been a non-profit organization providing services to the trans and gender-expansive community of Eugene. These services include mental health, vocal training and medical needs on top of helping coordinate gathering spaces like Trans Day of Remembrance locally in Eugene.
Nov. 14 to Nov. 19 marks the Trans Week of Celebration leading up to Nov. 20, Trans Day of Remembrance. Throughout the week, TransPonder will partner with UO’s LGBT+ Education Support Services to provide on-campus events for the Eugene community.
While Trans Week of Celebration is a time to uplift, the reason for its existence stems from the ongoing violence against trans people and especially Black trans femme individuals like Hester. According to the National LGBTQ Task Force, in many situations of anti-trans rhetoric, Black trans lives are at higher risk. The study by the National LGBTQ Task Force showed 49% of Black respondents had attempted suicide.
“It’s not one day, it’s every day,” Tara Burke, the TransPonder events coordinator, said. “We remember who we lost every day because grief doesn’t work that way.”
The hope is for allies to not only better understand the lives of trans and gender-expansive individuals, but to “step up” and put in work to make them feel safe and seen. “If people who were outside of our community did that, it would make a massive difference. It would protect and save the lives of a lot of trans people,” Emma Howard, UO LGBT+ Gender Expansive Residential Community Programmatic Support Assistant, said.
Trans Day of Remembrance is intended to be enjoyable to all while respecting the intent for it to be a comforting space for grieving trans and gender-expansive individuals who were taken. The day is a moment for the community to build the strength to live their lives.
“While I do hope that the week and [Trans Day of Remembrance] itself does create visibility, I also don’t want that to be the sole thing people get out of this week,” Howard said. “All of the events we’re planning are specifically to empower, protect and uplift trans lives and trans voices.”
While open to the public, Howard said these events are intended to embolden trans and gender-expansive identities at UO. Allies are encouraged not to invade these spaces, but protect and empower these spaces for trans and gender-expansive lives to flourish.
“This is not something that happens a lot of places,” Howard said. “Especially with all the anti-trans legislation that’s happening around the country, we really do want to be like ‘here, in Oregon, at UO, we celebrate these people, and we protect these people. We protect our own.’”
Here is the itinerary for Trans Week of Celebration at UO:
Tuesday- Legal Workshop (4:30-6:00) @ Crater Lake South Room in the EMU
Wednesday- Clothing Swap (12:00-5:00) @ QA3 Room in the EMU
- Gender Affirming Photoshoot (2:00-4:00) @ Crutcher Lewis Room in the EMU
Thursday- US Trans Survey (10:00-1:00) @ Rouge Room in the EMU
Saturday- Gender Inclusive Swim (4:45-6:00) @ the REC
Sunday- Trans Day of Remembrance (3:00-5:00) @ EMU Ballroom
- Trans Day of Remembrance Vigil (5:00-6:00) @ EMU Amphitheater
This week’s events are co-organized by:
Tara Burke (they/them) – Special Event Coordinator w/ TransPonder
Emy Merrifield (they/them) – TransPonder Intern
LGBT Education and Support Services (LGBTESS) team
– SJ (they/them)
– Teagan Gaviola (she/they)
– Emma Howard (she/they)
– Cassie Delboy (Graphic Artist)
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to correct the job title of Emma Howard on 11/17/22. Howard’s correct position with the UO LGBTEES team is Gender Exansive Residential Community Programmic Support Assistant.
