Students and staff all gathered Tuesday and Thursday on the second floor of the University Student Union in front of the Cross Cultural Center to celebrate the beginning of Transgender Awareness Week. The hall was full of energetic individuals, who were rocking out to the bands or socializing with the resources present. Even despite the rain forcing the event inside many appeared to offer their support in what was a quiet evening in honor of the lives who were lost.

It began in 1999 to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was tragically murdered in 1998. This important event is now honored every year, as it marks the remembrance of transgender people who have lost their lives due to violence. 

Cal State LA held their own vigil on Thursday, which fell on the National Day of Remembrance for transgender people, which is held every year on Nov. 20th.

On Tuesday, there were many different tables that offered different resources for the community such as the Altamed table that offered services such as rapid HIV and STI testing, and information on how to get screenings for any potential diseases. The Women’s Gender and Sexuality Club was present as well as many students spoke to representatives Jackson Vitello, J’Dyn Scruggs, and Jo Lacangun on how the WGS club gives a welcoming environment to everyone.

Local artists Trap Girl and LXS COCHINXS brought the music to the event, which was heard within the hallways of the Student Union. 

“It means quite a bit, representation not only matters and that should be obvious to everyone,” Constantine Jones, a student at Cal State LA who was present for both events said. “It also matters that we’re normalizing it and making sure that everybody knows that it’s a normal thing to happen.” 

They also shared how important it was for these events to occur, despite the ongoing issues plaguing the transgender community with our current administration.

The transgender community has faced many challenges this year from the Trump administration. This includes passports only recognizing two genders following a new action taken by the administration, or having transgender members of the military being removed from their positions. 

“Cal State LA is clearly a place that is focused on belonging and community.” University Administrator Erik Hollins said, “This event is a perfect example of bringing a community together, telling students that they belong and that they are part of CSULA, they are part of who we are, and we are always here for them,” Thursday evening, the hallway and front of the cross culture center was covered with candles and images of transgender lives lost, as well as captions mentioning the horrific manner in which they passed. Causes of death differed between either violence, hate crimes, and mental health issues. On one of the tables was a paper that held the unfortunate statistics of lives lost. The statistics included mentions of  77% of victims being people of color, 53% being black trans women, and 39% being killed by a romantic partner, friend or family member. 67 lives have been lost worldwide since the last Trans Day of Remembrance. 

Mario Pizarro Rojas, coordinator of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, was one of those who spoke, reading out the names of those we’ve lost in recent years. Rojas described how it is important to remember lives lost by transphobia, as we are living in a moment where transphobia is present more than ever, often being seen as the scapegoat from politicians’ own atrocities such as when the president spoke on children receiving gender affirming surgeries at school. A claim that had little to no evidence that this happened at any school in the United States.

“People think that the trans community is a small insignificant amount of the world, but they’re not. They’re a huge number and we have trans family members we might not even know about, so it’s important to show up for them,” Rojas said.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, an activist who led the way for a better future for the transgender community recently passed away in October was one of the important figures that was highlighted during the vigil.

“The fact that Miss Major Griffin-Gracy lived to 78 is amazing, our trans elders barely made it through transphobia, some of them barely made it through the AIDS epidemic, we always have to highlight these lives,” Rojas said. “We didn’t get a chance to do it while they were living so we should do it now.” 

In a moment where the administration attempts to silence many communities, it’s important to stand and remind everyone why these things should be celebrated as they make up our history. The transgender community has been one that continues to fight despite undergoing numerous challenges in recent years their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.