DURHAM, NH – Community members gathered on the University of New Hampshire’s Great Lawn Monday, Nov. 21, to observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance, hosted by student organizations TransUNH and the Student Senate. The vigil fell just after a gunman opened fire at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday, Nov. 19. 

The night began with a reading of the names of those who lost their lives due to anti-trans violence in 2022, while the crowd solemnly lit their candles in remembrance. Then, a moment of silence was held to mourn both the lives of those taken in the Colorado Springs shooting and the 32 trans people who fell victim to violence in 2022. 

Afterwards, a series of student speakers addressed the crowd, followed by an open mic. 

“After the discussion fades out, it can be easy to ignore and forget when you are not the target of this violence,” said Brady Barre, current president of TransUNH, in their opening speech. “In my four years on campus, I’ve had to face names, harassment and a general feeling of discomfort that follows me almost everywhere I go.” 

“It can lead you to think, ‘Oh I’m just one person, how much can I really do?’ At least, I’ve found myself thinking that. But all change starts with one person. This day started with one person, one trans woman,” said Barre. 

According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the Transgender Day of Remembrance “honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.” 

The tradition began in 1999 by advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith to honor the loss of her friend, Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in Allston, Massachusetts, in 1998. 

“We’re in 2022, and a lot of things have improved, but at the same time people are still being killed just because of their identity. So I think something that shocking and drastic, and something that’s still happening so often, needs to be brought to people’s attention,” said Barre. 

In 2021, the Human Rights Campaign reported 57 incidents of fatal violence against transgender or non-binary people – double that of 2017. Furthermore, transgender individuals are 2.5 times as likely to experience violence than cisgender people. 

“As a campus community, we must recognize that acts like this directly impact and threaten members of our own community,” said Dean Michael Blackman in a university-wide email sent out on Nov. 21. “And part of our responsibility means affirming our care and commitment to those who feel this impact.”

UNH student, Carolyn Stoller, described feelings of apprehension as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

“It can just be really scary at times,” Stoller said. “Because you’re looking at your friends and you’re like, I don’t know if my friends are gonna be hurt tomorrow. And that’s just that’s a uniquely terrifying feeling.”

As part of the open mic portion of the night, Stoller prompted many teary eyes with her original poem, “The Call to Remember”. 

“I know it is not enough, but it is all I have,” read Stoller. “I remember your names. I remember. I remember.” 

Trans victims are often misgendered or referred to by previous names after their passing. LGBTQ+ activists have long fought to ensure the public properly remembers these individuals as they identified. The human rights campaign reports that since 2013, 70% of trans victims have been initially misgendered by the media or police. 

“Sometimes I fear that people, you know, when people of the trans community are lost, they’re maybe remembered by names that they don’t go by, or the identities that they don’t identify with anymore,” said Stoller. “Even if I know nothing about them, I know that they are important, that they mattered and that I never will get the chance to know them. And that is truly a tragedy.”