Community gathers for Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience

November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience.

A day to honour the lives lost and affected by transphobic violence.

A flag raising ceremony was held in Essex on Sunday.

Speaking on AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show, trans activist Stefanie Pest attended the ceremony and says it's a solemn day.

"I'm very proud to say the Town of Essex allowed us to raise that trans flag in honour of those that lost their lives, not only from violent attacks and murders, but those, and trigger warning, those that die by suicide because of the way society treats them."

Pest says while the trans and gender diverse community have experienced gains in recent years in terms of human rights protections, there are those who still want to strip that away from them.

"They don't want us to be part of the human diversity for some reason. Either it's ignorance, they're uneducated about our community, it could be their faith even, that says 'this cannot be'."

She says on this day she'll be reflecting on the lives that have been lost.

"Why is hate so prevalent to a segment of society. Mostly the trans and gender diverse people that have lost their lives are within the 18 to 25 age group. And that's the beginning of their lives. Their journey has just begun and now it's cut short. And that is a tragedy."

Trans Wellness Ontario will hold their annual Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience event from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

All ages welcome, light refreshments will be provided.

Trans Wellness Ontario will hold their annual Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience event from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 20, 2023.