Weber State University’s Diversity and Inclusive Programs hosted a remembrance vigil for the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) on Thursday in the Fireplace Lounge.
During the vigil, names were read off by Alisha Stucki, LGBT Awareness Chair for the Diversity Board at Weber State, as a way to honor those who have lost their lives in acts of anti-transgender violence.
“This issue is really on the forefront of my mind,” Stucki said. “Kids get killed everyday, there’s a trans murder everyday and nobody seems to be paying attention.”
Attendees held candles and gave a moment of silence to pay their respects to those being remembered.
Attendees also showed their support by writing letters to Congress, urging them to enact legislation that pushes to stop violence against transgender people.
“It’s important that we keep talking about this issue and give a call to action and make sure people know what to do and how to get involved,” Stucki said.
After the vigil, everyone made their way up to the Center for Diversity and Unity for a transgender panel discussion.
Members of the panel included Dana Reid, Kaden Colton, Liam Paskett, Mathieu Wilson and Women’s Center advocate and program specialist Paige Davies.
“As far as being on the panel, it’s an opportunity to share and it’s an opportunity to help people understand,” Reid said. “For me, I wanted to be a part of it, because I wanted to share a little bit of my story, what it’s like and what changes can be made to help make this a little bit easier for others.”
The panel members talked about the struggles they went through and what it is like to be transgender. They offered advice for those going through similar struggles and gave feedback on how important it is to help people understand.
“For us, this is a daily thing. We have to deal with our identity, our place in the world and whether other people are going to accept it on a daily basis.” Reid said.
At the end of the discussion, the panel opened up for a Q & A session to give those who attended a chance to reach out and learn more.
Weber State offers an LGBTQA support group and discussion that meets the third Wednesday of each month at noon in the LGBT Resource Center. To find out more information about this, contact the LGBT Resource Center at 801-626-7271 or visit http://weber.edu/lgbtresourcecenter/group.html.
