In observance of the fifth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, The Center hosted a candlelight march and memorial service on Nov. 20.

Held in commemoration of transgender persons and their allies who’ve perished due to hate crimes in the last year, the event was co-sponsored by prominent organizations and businesses in the community, including the Imperial Court de San Diego, Bacchus House and the Transgender Advocacy and Services Center. The function was attended by roughly 200 people.

Included in the ceremony were local and national speakers, two musical performances and narratives depicting the lives and untimely deaths of transgender victims around the world. Details of the often brutal and macabre crime scenes were not spared during this segment of the program, bringing many in the audience to tears. Ranging from a 3-year-old boy suffocated by his father to a pre-op transsexual murdered by law enforcement in Guatemala City, the victims of hate and their assailants were as diverse as the community itself.

Belinda Flynn of Ramona, mother of an 11-year-old transgender female to male, commanded the attention of the audience as she spoke about her son Ashton’s early transition, which began for him at the age of 9. Flynn recalled an incident when Ashton was in first grade and he confessed to his mother that he thought he was gay because he was attracted to girls. In the following years, Flynn and her husband noticed that Ashton became increasingly withdrawn and despondent. After consulting with a family friend with a background in psychology and reading a San Diego Union-Tribune piece on the transgender community, the Flynn family finally had an answer for their son.

Flynn cited her degree in child development as integral in identifying her son’s gender crisis and embracing the transition process. Flynn proclaimed she would “rather have a living son than a dead daughter” and characterized Ashton’s newfound gender identity as “a blessing, not a curse.”

City Commissioner Nicole Murray-Ramirez said he was especially moved by Flynn’s story, adding that “transsexuals are the least recognized of our community and that needs to stop.” Ramirez also reminded the group that “we should always remember the transgender place at the table of our movement.”

Nationally renowned activist Monica Helms, founder of the Transgender American Veterans Association, took the stage as the keynote speaker of the evening. With her mother and eldest son in the front row, Helms lauded Flynn for her progressive and loving approach to mothering a transgender child.

During her speech, Helms juxtaposed the history of African-American lynching in the U.S. to the current acts of violence wrought against the transgender community. She pointed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a bellwether piece of legislation, responsible for the cessation of lynching both in the South and nationally. Helms said she retains hope that the 110th Congress, with a Democratic majority, will be more willing to pass hate crimes legislation that would mirror the effectiveness of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for transgender persons. She also highlighted her service in the U.S. Navy between 1970 and 1978, adding, “The rights I fought to protect, I am denied today.”

Local transgender leaders were recognized for their continuous articulation and activism of the transgender cause. Tracy O’Brien, Sandra Ramirez, Brenda Watson and Matt Stevens were among the honorees.

The event also drew a strong clergy presence. Ellen Brenner of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego facilitated a prayer circle prior to the march, using “a ritual adopted from a Quaker community,” she said.

All too often the clergy as a collective shuns the GLBT community, Brenner said, but the First Unitarian Universalist Church serves as an inclusive resource.

In an effort to curb violence against the transgender community and the GLBT community at large, The Center is “working effectively with [the] Stonewall Citizens Patrol to ensure that all LGBT people feel safe in Hillcrest and surrounding neighborhoods,” Sean Wherley, public policy director for The Center, told the Gay & Lesbian Times.

Though The Center’s efforts aren’t transgender specific, Wherley said, “The Center issues referrals to all LGBT people who call about possible hate crimes and tells community members what steps they can take to prevent becoming a victim of violence.”

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was initially prompted by the 1998 murder of Rita Hester, a transsexual victim of hate. Hester’s slaying was a manifestation of “transphobia,” a phenomenon that had long been ignored until the latter part of the 20th century, and incited a national uproar within the GLBT community.

For more information about hate crimes or for further resources offered to the transgender community, visit www.thecentersd.org.