Spokane hosts events to support trans community for Transgender Day of Remembrance
News Brief by Cassy Benefield | FāVS News
Spokane will host several activities to support the local trans community this month.
Events surround Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20). This date is set apart to honor the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence, but not all events will take place on this day.
Nov. 20
Spokane Falls Community College will observe their TDOR on Nov. 20 with a vigil at the Student Union Building from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The gathering, hosted by the campus Alliance Club, will offer students and staff to show their support and acceptance of trans people.
The National Center for Civil and Human Rights will also hold a TDOR virtual event on Nov. 20 from 5-6 p.m. PST. The the title of the presentation is “We Are Here” A Celebration of Trans Resilience,” and it will be co-hosted by Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga and Umut Dursun. It is open to all and registration takes place online.
Nov. 23
Saturday, Nov. 23, Trans Spokane and partner organizations invite the community to honor trans lives with their TDOR event, from 2-4 p.m., at Spokane’s Central Library’s nx?yx?yetk? Hall.
This year’s library event will center trans voices and welcome Two-Spirit, transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive musicians, dancers, drag performers, storytellers, slam poets and other performing artists to the stage.
Community partners will also provide information on resources for eastern Washington and north Idaho’s gender-expansive community.
Nov. 30
Finally, Trans Spokane will host a potluck on Nov. 30, from 1-4 p.m., at Spokane Central Library’s Event Rooms A and B. They invite all ages, all trans and gender-diverse people and their allies.
Their event information text invites all to “come get to know us, socialize with your local trans community and eat some delicious food.”
More information about this event can be found online.
Thanks for reporting on this, Cassy. It’s good to see the community coming together to remember and honor transgendered, two spirit people, especially at a time when these people are threatened by those in power.
Unfortunately, the event at the Spokane Central Library was not an obervance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The even is supposed to be about remembering trans people who were murdered. But there was hardly any mention of the fallen. Instead, there was a lot of self aggrandizing of performers in what would be far more appropriate for the Transgender Day of Visibility in March.