By Riley Hensley
On Nov. 15, 2018, I attended The LGBT Center hosted Trans Vigil at the Galbreath Chapel. It’s held annually and is the most somber yet beautiful event that the university endorses. The event itself sheds light on the severity and the continuous danger that transgender people face simply for living and offers emotional support and validation on their behalf.
delfin bautista at Trans Vigil
People filed onto the wooden church benches. The event started with spoken material on the topic of trans existence, and the church surrounded with trans inclusive art. Twenty plus individuals came to show their support for the T in LGBT. Five people spoke, mainly people who work in the LGBT center. However, there was a chance for anyone to speak if they wanted to. Some people read poems, others read their own personal essays. All shared that transgender people deserve safety and peace, like all other people do.
Three trans inclusive art pieces put up around the chapel
At the end of the event, people read off the names of those transgender individuals who were murdered in all parts of the world. After the names were read from slips of paper, people picked up LED candles and turned them on to show their support. There were at least 200 transgender people who were killed in the last year simply because they were transgender, and every time I hear that fact, it breaks my heart a little more.
A table with led lights on it. In the background is a podium and on either side is a flag. On the left is the genderqueer pride flag and on the right is the trans flag.
A table is draped with a trans flag, covered in trans bracelets, pronoun cards, and trans pride heart pins.
Last year, when I attended this event, I cried most of the time. I think that was the first time I actually realized what hardships would go along with this particular identity, and I think it’s important that we acknowledge the violence that breeds from unacceptance. It means a lot to me as an individual to recognize that people in higher positions of power can offer that kind of emotional support toward a vulnerable group of people.
As an institution, it is our obligation to show support for the individuals that come to our campus, to not only make space for them, but to share the space that we have with the privilege that we have. It is our duty as a center of higher education to include diverse histories into our stream of knowledge and pass that important information down to the next generation of scholars, educators, and people. Events like this show the population that there is more than one face to being a student and that higher education can easily encompass a variety of identities while simultaneously providing a quality learning environment. More than ever, our support needs to be shown for our fellow human beings, and this support can start with our universities.
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