With violence only increasing toward individuals of the LGBTQ+ community, students on SE Campus found importance in holding an event dedicated to Transgender Remembrance Day.

The Student Government Association and Gender Sexuality Alliance teamed up Nov. 20 to remember the lives that have been lost due to violence.

Students from both organizations said that this created a welcoming and inclusive environment for students of all backgrounds and orientations.

Transgender Remembrance Day occurs annually on Nov. 20 and honors members of the transgender community that were killed due to transphobia.

The number of murders of transgender people have only increased over the past few years. According to TGEU.org, in 2024 it was concluded that 350 trans individuals were killed in the U.S. between Oct. 1, 2023 and Sept. 30, 2024.

“The goal of it was to just bring more awareness, especially in today’s climate and everything that’s going on,” said SE SGA President Leslie Zacarias.

Senate Bill 17 has made it more difficult for state colleges to celebrate cultural holidays, including LGBTQ+ celebrations.

“We actually started planning this event before the Senate Bill stuff came out, so I think it was perfect timing in my opinion,” she said.

Levi Fortune, President of SE GSA, said that the event was created to bring light to the LGBTQ+ community on the campus.

“Because the current political climate, everything’s being kept on the hush hush,” he said before the event. “It’s to remember our fallen transgender brothers and sisters and then we’ll have a little trivia thing about it and just kind of get our name out there and get some LGBTQ facts out there.”

At one table, students could spin a wheel and land on a question to answer then receive a cupcake. The questions provided students with better knowledge on the LGBTQ+ community.

“The questions that we have for people, some of them are known but I think some of them are more like, ‘Wow, that’s interesting,’ especially to people who wouldn’t know anything about the LGBT community,” Zacarias said.

Everyone involved also said that the event could help students learn about what’s going on in the world and what the LGBTQ+ community is facing.

“Part of the reason why there is a lot of transphobia is because of misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of trans people and who they are and what they represent,” she said.

Fortune said although he is not trans himself, he finds importance in celebrating Transgender Remembrance Day and educating other students about it with the event.

“To me, it’s just basically raising awareness for hate crimes against transgender people,” Fortune said. “It was created in 1999 over a candlelight vigil to honor Rita Hester’s murder and then it’s like most transgender cases, it’s still not solved to this day.”

Rita Hester was a trans woman from Massachusetts that was killed in a violent act of transphobia. Her death fueled the creation of Transgender Remembrance Day.

SE student Grayson Moore, who said he’s not open with everyone about being trans, was excited that the campus got to hold this event for Transgender Remembrance Day.

He said this day is meant to honor all trans people, especially the ones who have died from murder or suicide.

“This makes me really happy,” he said. “And I hope that if there’s any other closeted people that even if they don’t feel comfortable participating for whatever reason, they still feel a little bit happy that there is an effort being made.”

Moore said an example of SE welcoming trans students is that the campus has some gender-neutral bathrooms and when he first discovered that he was happy about it.

Eirene Jefferson is SGA senate chair and attended the Transgender Remembrance Day event.

“It’s inclusive for all,” she said. “It stands for equity for all. That’s what I stand for in terms of making sure everybody feels welcome and feels involved with the student body.”

She said she wants everyone on campus to be treated fairly and with respect.

“And there shouldn’t be any type of reason why students should feel neglected,” she said. “We’re literally all in this world together.”