A solemn but hopeful gathering at Ecumenical Campus Ministries on Wednesday honored 74 transgender and gender-nonconforming people who died across the United States during the last year.
Soft lights and gentle music ushered in a calming backdrop for the event, which occurs annually Nov. 20 across the world. Traditionally, TDOR memorializes those who’ve been targeted by violence, but Wednesday’s vigil also recognized transgender and gender-nonconforming people who’ve died in various circumstances. Organizers offered extended tributes for a Lawrence woman and military veterans.
Altogether, 74 names were read by community members. In between each name and the sound of a lightly tolled bell, details — if known — were shared. When it was time for Fallon Lewis’ name to be read, Rachel Reed spoke softly into the microphone.
“Fallon Lewis, age 58, died October 30, 2024, the day before Halloween this year, Lawrence, Kansas,” Reed told the crowd of about 60 people. “Fallon was a light in the lives of everyone she knew. She was a good friend of mine.”
Reed told attendees Lewis’ family needs help with the cost of Lewis’ memorial. Reed said Lewis was a good friend “and she would always take the extra step to help.”
An online obituary and giving website reads, “Fallon was a beacon of radiance, inviting all who knew her into her open, warm, and chill atmosphere. She was dubbed ‘Hippy Girl’, a testament to her jovial and bubbly personality.”
Reed, a transgender woman and veteran of the U.S. Army who served as an Army Ranger, read the names of two members of the military who were being commemorated Wednesday night: Cris Velazquez and Vanity Williams. Reed asked the crowd to also pay homage to the unknown number of transgender military personnel and veterans who’ll likely “go back into hiding” in the coming months and years.
After the 74 names were read, a final bell tolled for all transgender and nonconforming people who’ve died but whose names weren’t read on Wednesday.
After the vigil, Reed said the next four years would be interesting and the community would need to “hold down the fort” for military members and veterans.
“Military members are going to have to go back into hiding because Trump has said that he’s going to make all transgender, and all gender-nondescript, he’s going to throw them out of the military,” Reed said. “It’s going to be worse than ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”
Amid the vigil’s solemnity, there was determination and hope for the future. Representing the Trans Lawrence Coalition, Raine Flores-Peña provided a Kansas legislative update and invited allies and advocates to a rally at Watson Park on Jan. 11.
“The goal is to kick off the 2025 legislative season in Kansas by telling our elected officials, no matter what they do, they will not be able to silence and erase us, because I’m sick of that shit, frankly,” Flores-Peña said.
Flores-Peña urged the crowd to stay informed about anti-transgender legislation and policies and to hold all elected officials accountable, no matter their political affiliation, while standing up against transphobia and oppression in solidarity with each other. Flores-Peña spoke of the dangers of outward violence but also structural violence within governmental systems.
“Kansas has been trailblazing in the worst way possible,” Flores-Peña said, referring to laws passed in the 2023 legislative session, including SB 180.
“So far, we have seen a total of five anti-trans laws passed in Kansas,” Flores-Peña said. “All of them were passed in the last legislative session in 2023. You’ve most likely heard of SB 180, which legally defines trans people out of existence. This law is not a bathroom ban, but it does grant the state of Kansas the right to discriminate against trans people in sex-segregated spaces.”
Flores-Peña told the crowd even if this “beautiful community” loses the battle, it will ultimately win the war.
“We are all here right now,” he said.
TDOR is held at the conclusion of Transgender Awareness Week in ceremonies across the world. Ruby Johnson reminded the crowd of TDOR’s history, which began in 1999 with a tribute to Rita Hester and later, Chanelle Pickett — two Black transgender women who were murdered in Massachusetts.
Johnson said TDOR is part of the transgender community’s history and the hope surrounding it, despite fears of violence and repression.
“Trans Day of Remembrance is solemn and meaningful and purposeful, and it stems from death, but make no mistake — it is about life,” Johnson said. “Because you all, each and every one of you here in this room, as I’m looking around, has more life and more light and more energy than any of these forces that would fight against us. And I know this, not because I’m just exhorting you to it, but I know this because I see it. I see it now. I see it today, and I see it every day walking down the street.”
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Tricia Masenthin (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at tmasenthin (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
