Members of aChurch4Me, as well as community members from the transgender community and their friends and loved ones, gathered Nov. 20 at United Church of Rogers Park, 1545 W. Morse Ave., to observe the 2014 Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Rev. Jacki Belile of the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, which co-sponsored the event, said the observance was to "remember the children of God who journeyed forward and showed the world their authentic selves," adding thanks for those gathered to "name the transgender children of God killed in violence this past year."
The service lasted over an hour, with three readers listing the names of transgender women and men from around the world who have fallen victim to violence. Since details on many of the individuals were scarce, most were identified just by a first name; those who went completely unidentified were referred to simply as a "beloved child of God."
After every tenth name was read, Cooper Knebel, a seminarian affiliated with aChurch4Me, lit a candle in remembrance.
The readers described the circumstances of the victims' deaths, when that information had been made available; the brutality in those details sometimes left audience members loudly gasping. One victim, an eight-year-old trans girl from Brazil, was beaten to death by her father, who wanted to show her how to "be a man." Another trans woman was dismembered and her various body parts left in far-reaching parts of her city. The locations of the violence were varied; crimes against trans persons took place in American cities like Baltimore, Detroit, Cincinnati and Fort Myers, Florida. Murders also took place in nations such as Brazil ,Mexico, Argentina, Uganda, Bangladesh, India, Guyana, Hungary, United Kingdom and Canada.
When the reading was finished, several audience members lit candles themselves, and, as is customary on the Transgender Day of Remembrance, the audience was asked to leave in silence.
aChurch4Me has been observing the Transgender Day of Remembrance since the church's inception, said its pastor, Rev. Jennie Kitch, after the service.
"It is so important to remember these people, because this is happening today," she added. "Our brothers and sisters are not doing anything but attempting to live their lives and be who they want to be."
Kitch noted that fewer of the murders listed seemed to be from the U.S. "Maybe these days of remembering are having some effect here," she said. "Of course, there's still a lot more work to be done."
She added that the Day of Remembrance is "a powerful witness to what is going on out there, and reminder for us all not to forget it."