Humber College commemorated Transgender Day of Remembrance for the first time in person since the pandemic on Monday.
The day was part of a week-long series of events aimed at highlighting and commemorating the losses within the transgender community. It was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to honour and memorialize Rita Hester, a Black trans woman who was killed.
On Monday, Humber paid remembrance to the transgender lives lost to violence throughout the year with a tree dedication ceremony in the Humber Arboretum. The event was attended by just a handful of people and lasted about 15 minutes.
Riley, a non-binary student at Humber College whose last name is being withheld as they are only out to their closest friends, said Transgender Day of Remembrance is important but Humber needs to be doing more for LGBTQ+ students.
“I feel like there’s not enough being done outside of the LGBTQ+ Resource Centre to make people feel comfortable,” they said. “I’ve noticed a lot of instructors don’t even ask for pronouns.”
Riley has not seen anyone talk about the Transgender Day of Remembrance events outside of the LGBTQ+ Resource Centre and social media, despite its importance.
The school also held “Transgressions,” a regularly scheduled peer-led program for transgender, two-spirit, non-binary, gender non-conforming and those questioning their gender identity.
Other events included a lantern-decorating ceremony to memorialize transgender lives on Wednesday and a screening of the queer vogueing film “Paris is Burning” on Thursday. There was also a banner signing in the E-concourse all week. Posters noted all the trans lives lost as well as the history of Trans Day of Remembrance.
Outside of Humber College, other post-secondary students have noticed a similar trend of a lack of promotion around Transgender Day of Remembrance.
University of Toronto student Val Vergara, a transmasculine arts student who has documented their gender transition on social media said that he finds events surrounding LGBTQ+ issues often do not attract students outside of the community.
“I know many clubs posted about it and there are a few gatherings happening for it,” Vergara said. “I don’t think many people really care outside of the queer community.”
Vergara said that although it can be sad thinking about transgender lives lost to violence, Transgender Day of Remembrance can also be a moment of pride.
“It’s a hard moment for a lot of people like my partner and I because we reflect on the people of our community who died this year,” he said. “But it’s also a moment to take pride in yourself.”