“TO EMBRACE WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE AND SHARE IT WITH THE WORLD”
Trigger warning: murder, violence, child abuse and suicide.
On Nov. 20, members and allies of the Trans community held a vigil at the Human Rights Memorial for the many around the world who have passed away this past year due to violence and suicide.
Many individuals from across Ottawa gathered in remembrance of those they have lost, with members of the community first sharing their thoughts, fears, hopes and experiences in turn, and what this event means to them, before a spoken reading of the names and a moment of silence for the individuals that have passed away.
Sydney Renaud, coordinator of the vigil, opened the evening. “We’re gathered here today to mourn and remember the lives of many trans people who have died this year, whether to violence or suicide. It’s a very scary time, at the moment there’s a lot of terrible things happening in the world, a lot of violence. And our rights and safety have been under attack, both here in Canada and elsewhere in the world for the past year, and longer.”
Speakers shared intimate stories about growing up in oppressive households, seeing evidence of self-harm amongst their friends, and the recent anti-trans protests and legislature going on in Canada and around the world.
“It’s a dangerous time right now with all the protests against teaching ‘alleged gender ideology’ in schools right now,” shared Allison Hadley, an author and activist. “But there’s one gender ideology that’s responsible for some of the young names that we read off tonight, and it’s not ours.”
Those in attendance ranged from children to seniors, holding candles in mourning for the lives lost.
“It’s important to remember with events like this,” Renaud added. “when there are far-right and seemingly not so far-right groups that are calling for rollbacks in trans rights and protections, especially under innocuous language like ‘parents rights’, it’s important to remember [that] what the parent[s]…are actually arguing [for] is a parent’s right to erase children’s identity and remove their bodily autonomy. And every single person that is on this list today, and there are many of them who are 10, 14, the youngest I’ve seen [are] six-year-olds. That is what they want. That is what the parents’ rights [would] do. The parents’ rights to drive their children… to that.”
All speakers echoed the difficulty of existing as trans, and in the reading out of the names, several individuals came to or neared tears in hearing the name of their former loved ones called. Those in attendance braced temperatures as low as -5 C for the event without much complaint, despite the gravity of the event, the evening was also a space of hope.
Shauna Wiseman, one of the keynote speakers, had the following to say during her speech: “We live in cruel times, too many of our siblings have died in the pursuit of living their own truths. I believe in the saying ‘two steps forward, one step back’. And certainly right now, it seems like a really step-backward turn of that phrase. Even though in the last decade we have made huge leaps forward, from officers to actresses, athletes to academics, senators to healthcare workers, to fight for liberation and ending unnecessary deaths [that] continue. I once heard that it is not necessary to be strong, but to feel strong. Feeling strong requires digging deep, finding the strength to persevere and the willingness to embrace your uniqueness and offer it as a gift to the world.
“Treat ignorance not with indifference or anger, but the internal fortitude to say ‘this is what living intentionally looks like’. We are your siblings, your family, your friends, your neighbours, your lovers, your partners, your employees, ingrained into every facet of society. We do not have to be incredible or accomplished to have value and to show up in our full selves, like so many of those names you’ll hear tonight did. To embrace what makes us unique and to share it with the world, we owe it to them to live with joy, with resilience, with hope, and to find the strength to carry on. Today is the day of mourning, but tomorrow the sun will rise again, and shine upon us all. We will continue to fight, to break the chains of oppression, to push for liberation of trans folks around the world and most importantly, to live. Stand tall and proud, my friends. Remember those who have gone before us and live for them, today, tomorrow, and always.”
