Vigil Held in Remembrance of Transgender Violence

It all started with a search on Google.

Sophomore Catherine Cruickshank was researching transgender issues for a friend when she stumbled on the story of Rita Hester: a transgendered person brutally murdered because of her identity. Hester’s death established The Transgender Day of Remembrance, held every November 20. “I just wanted to look up how many were killed due to bigotry, and upon that search I found a lot of info about this day,” says Cruickshank.

Seeing that the the date was only a few days away, Cruickshank quickly took action.

Cruickshank contacted the School’s Gay Straight Alliance to better get the word out. “I thought it was a neat thing, and that it should be brought up,” she said. She then relayed the info to the administration.

Soon enough, info about the vigil was being broadcasted across the school intercom. In Cruickshank’s view, this caught students by surprise. “Generally when any announcements come on that has to do with LGBT issues, you can feel this aura of negativity, surprise and rejection coming from the students,” she said. “You can tell that most people in the class are not supporters of LGBT rights.”

The vigil was held shortly after school on Friday in across the street in Carle Park. Around 20 people showed up. There was something unexpected, though: An unidentified clarinetist played on a nearby bench, lifting the somber tone of the gathering. “I have to say, the clarinet gives a nice touch,” remarked Cruickshank, during the vigil.

While the vigil happened under daylight, it did not deter people from lighting candles. Many of the candles had the word “love” etched in the wax.

Emily Warren, the only freshman at the vigil, helped other people light their candles. Her relationship with the LGBT community was what brought her out to the vigil. “I don’t think people fully understand what transgenders have to face,” Warren said. “People need to be open-minded above all else.”

Mitali Purkayashta, a recent graduate of Cental High School, thinks that the issue of transgender acceptance is often put on the back burner when addressing social equality. “It’s great that we focus so much on gay and lesbian youth, but most of the time, transgender youth are shied away form,” Purksayastha said. “They’re people, too”

Again, GSA Co-president Annie Valocchi: “The administration needs to set very strict rules on the fact derogatory language is not okay. It’s hurtful.” She also stressed that the mindset needs to be changed as well. “You can’t just continually tell a student not to say something, you have to tell them why it’s wrong or else they’ll never understand.”