KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Transgender Day of Remembrance, observed Nov. 20, is a decades-long recognition of transgender people killed each year.
In 2021, the Human Rights Campaign tracked 50 deaths of transgender people, many of them Black women.
“It’s scary,” said Fynelle Fristoe, a transgender woman. “You think of life as going and being normal. Go to the store and go to work and live everyday life, and then you could just end up dead.”
Fristoe is also a board member and activist for Transformations KC, an organization building leadership within the Midwest trans community.
She sees Transgender Day of Remembrance as a time to dive into self-reflection and gratitude for her life.
“It’s almost like a trans-Thanksgiving, it you will," Fristoe said. “... This is like my time to like really sit down, look at the papers and say, 'You’re alive. Be thankful and do better, cause change.'”
Jami Ryan is the president and founder of the Original Gents motorcycle club, a transgender male and nonbinary bike club in Kansas City.
Club members gathered at Big Rip Brewing Sunday afternoon for a moment of silence for lives lost this year. They also read the name and a brief description of each person who passed.
“Yeah, it’s real hard. We wish we could prevent it and change the viewpoints of others,” Ryan said. “We just want to enjoy life and live our happy, authentic self.”
