Transgender Day of Remembrance events across state honor lives lost
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Dozens of people gathered in the Capitol rotunda Thursday to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual event to honor the memory of lives lost to anti-transgender violence.
Elected officials and transgender advocates read off a proclamation from the governor’s office remembering the lives lost to violence and celebrating transgender Minnesotans.
LGBTQ+ people said the remembrance events carry a different weight this year as changes are introduced in other states — and on the federal level — designed to attack transgender rights.
“Remembrance alone is not enough, not anymore. We must name the harm, not just the physical violence, but the legislative violence, the rhetorical violence, the cultural violence, the kind that shows up in school boards, in court rooms, in newsrooms and in dinner table conversations, the kind that tells trans people we are dangerous simply for existing, the kind that tells two-spirit people that their sacred identities are myths, the kind that turns our lives into political talking points,” Theo Casio, the chair of Minnesota’s LGBTQIA2S+ Council, said during the Capitol event.
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State Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, touted laws approved in 2023 that ban conversation therapy and offer legal protection for trans people who seek gender affirming care in Minnesota. But she said there was work to be done in raising awareness.
“We have a lot to be proud of in the state of Minnesota, but culture is not policy, right?” Finke said. “And policy can't change people's hearts and minds just by the fact of its existence.”
Minneapolis event remembers victims including Sam Nordquist
Later in the day, dozens of people gathered in Minneapolis Central Library for a Transgender Day of Remembrance event hosted by city employee resource groups.
Shor Salkas, the LGBTQIA+ equity manager for the city, welcomed attendees.
"It’s a day of reverence and a day to honor our beloved dead, to say their names, to feel our grief, to sit alongside sadness,” Salkas said, adding it’s also “a day to honor life and it’s a day to honor love, and those things sit right next to grief.”
Minneapolis City Council member Andrea Jenkins, who made history in 2017 as the first Black openly transgender woman to be elected to office in the United States, also spoke.
“I represent something of an aberration cause this is not the reality of all Black disabled transgender women in America … the reality is many trans and gender-non-conforming people end up having their names read on Transgender Day of Remembrance which is deeply sad and deeply unfortunate something we gotta change.”
Volunteers researched and found names of 76 transgender and gender-non-conforming people who have died in the U.S. since Transgender Day of Remembrance last year (or whose names they have learned of since that day). They projected a photo, then shared the first and last name and age of each victim. There was a ring from a sound bowl after every one.
Several died in their early 20s. A handful were from Minnesota. There was a pause and sharp intake of breath for Sam Nordquist, a Black transgender man from Minnesota who prosecutors say was tortured for weeks in upstate New York before his body was found in February. Seven people have been charged with murder and kidnapping in his death. The Democrat and Chronicle reports a trial is not expected until 2026.
Other events serve greater Minnesota
In St. Cloud, Seal Dwyer said their counseling practice is sponsoring a Transgender Day of Remembrance event there for the first time so area residents don’t have to drive to the Twin Cities. Among the people they will honor is a St. Cloud child who died by suicide this year.
Dwyer said it’s powerful that leaders from different faith communities — including Christian, Muslim, pagan and Native spiritualities — reached out about taking part in the event.
“It is a direct act of resistance to the hatred narrative in our country,” said Dwyer.
Another event was scheduled to take place in Willmar Thursday evening. Ember Williams, a volunteer with Willmar Pride, said the remembrance events are important.
“Some people don't always get recognized or remembered,” said Ember Williams, a volunteer with Willmar Pride. “It’s not just about mourning, but really like acknowledging that the people that have been lost were people with dreams, a community and a purpose.”
Some of the events planned in Minnesota
10-11 a.m.: Transgender Day of Remembrance with MNclusive at the State Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul
4-6 p.m.: Transgender Day of Remembrance Community Vigil at Minneapolis Central Library in Minneapolis
5-7:30 p.m.: Trans Day of Remembrance hosted by OutFront Minnesota and Queermunity at Queermunity in Minneapolis.
6-8 p.m.: Transgender Day of Remembrance protest and vigil hosted by Minnesota Abortion Access Committee and Taking Back Pride Coalition in Loring Park in Minneapolis
7-8 p.m.: Multi-Faith Transgender Day of Remembrance hosted by counseling practice Seal Dwyer Counseling in downtown St. Cloud.
7:30-8 p.m.: Transgender Day of Remembrance Candlelight Vigil hosted by Willmar Pride at Intuition Brewing in Willmar.
