Community gathers to memorialize transgender lives lost to violence

You can watch the full ceremony below (Courtesy of PromoHomo.Tv)

Local residents gathered in front of Palm Springs City Hall Friday evening for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony which honors those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.

This year's ceremony was altered due to the pandemic.

Attendees maintain were six-feet apart from each other and wore a face covering as they held candles while the names of transgender people who lost their lives in the past year were read out loud.

Several people also took to the podium to share the names and stories of victims. One of the speakers, Angelina Love of the Transgender Health and Wellness Center, lost her friend to violence just this week.

"As a trans woman of color, this has been a really hard year. This has been a really hard year, to watch these people continuously be murdered," Love said.

Transgender Day of Remembrance was created in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender woman, to memorialize the murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. The day has grown to draw more attention to the continued violence endured by transgender people.

81% of the TGI community is contemplating suicide and 54% have made an attempt, according to the Transgender Health and Wellness Center, a local non-profit that supports the less fortunate in the transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex community.

The data comes from a recent survey, however, the organization believes this is due to previous issues now being further impacted by the current pandemic.

If you would like to donate to the Transgender Health and Wellness Center, you can visit www.trans.health/donate or text "Give" to +1 (760) 232-6732.