ST. LOUIS – On Sunday, more than 100 people were out at the Saint Louis Transgender Garden Memorial for the National Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“People are being murdered all the time, just because of transphobia and hate, and a lot of conversations that people perpetuate,” said Michaela Joy Kraemer, interim executive director for Metro Trans Umbrella Group.
The Human Rights Campaign said 32 members of the transgender community have been killed by violence across the country in 2022.
“When there aren’t a whole lot of us, the numbers may not seem that big. I think, right now, we’re honoring 32 in this country; and those are just the ones that are identified,” Britney Hochman said. “There is probably a lot more that are not accounted for. It may not seem like a lot, but when you take the fact that our entire community is very small, that’s a lot more.”
People at the vigil said they might not know the lives lost this year directly, but they are honoring them.
“There is a dull pain that continues throughout the day even as really wonderful things are happening and seeing people,” Kraemer said.
People at the vigil said they are each carrying a lot of emotions from resilience, grief, and sorrow for Colorado Springs where a gunman walked into a LGBTQ night club and killed five people, wounding 18 others.
“It’s sad that it happened on the eve of TDoR. So what we’re doing is we opened up the five star today and just let people be in community,” Jordan Braxton said. “Whether they want to cry, they want to talk, we have flowers where they made bouquets and just be here for people that need some kind of comfort.”