Trans Day of Remembrance 2025
- Allie King
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
It is a difficult line to toe - to hold an event that is both appropriately somber but also celebratory. Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is about paying respects to the countless lives of gender diverse people lost due to transphobia. It centers people who were murdered or harmed by such adverse systemic conditions to have their lives end - whether it be by their own hand or a poisonous drug supply. It calls us to reflect on intersectionality.
And yet, trans people are also fabulous - they are artists, performers, comedians and so much more. To remember trans lives that were cut short is to also acknowledge the creativity, fierceness and sheer sass that is so prevalent in the trans community - that which so many of those who have passed left behind. QMUNITY’s TDoR event was not a celebration of life per se. It was a way to hold both tragedy and resilience.
The event, in partnership with Prisoner Correspondence Project, achieved this balance thanks to our Communications Coordinator, Olivia Scholes (she/her), who planned the evening with such thought and care. The event featured a screening of IMMATURE, followed by drag and slam poetry performances by Maiden China, Cinnamon Winters, SKIM, Acacia, Luna, and poignant words by Ky Sargeant. The evening was gently opened and brought to a tender close by two members of the band Houseguest. An emotional arc was achieved that served as a bridge to the TDoR vigil held afterwards by Vancouver Trans March and SAGAH.
It may be difficult for those outside the trans community to relate to the gravity of Trans Day of Remembrance. They may know that trans lives are targeted in a cerebral sense. It is another thing altogether to attend an event that makes cis people look at it more closely. We thank the allies that showed up. We trust you will continue to do so while advocating for trans rights. In a sociopolitical climate of limiting trans rights as human rights, in which a small number of people who spread hate have become louder and emboldened, trans people need all the support they can get. We aren’t out of the woods, not even close.
