Gender diverse youth of Planned Parenthood Keystone’s Rainbow Room will lead today’s Trans Day of Remembrance & Resilience in Doylestown and offer their stories.
The Doylestown event will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the lawn of the former Bucks County Courthouse at 55 East Court Street. If it rains the event will be moved indoors to the Rainbow Room at 186 E. Court Street.
Marlene Pray, founder and director of The Rainbow Room and regional coordinator for LGBTQ+ Youth Education, said this year’s event honors the lives of trans people lost from hate and anti-trans violence during the past year.
“One of the unique things about our vigil is that it is primarily led by youth from our community. Several youth will be featured speakers and also perform a song while we light the candles. The names that are going to be read are of trans people who were murdered due to anti-trans hate and violence in the U.S. in the past year. This year, we are also reading the names of three trans people who died by suicide in Pennsylvania in the past year,” Pray said.
Planned Parenthood Keystone’s Rainbow Room has been Buck’s County’s center for LGBTQ+ youth since 2002.
“We remember those we’ve lost, stand with the trans community and commit to creating a world where every trans person can live freely, safely and proudly.” – Marlene Pray, Founder and Director of The Rainbow Room
Pray said among this year’s speakers is an 11-year-old Rainbow Room Junior program member.
“… I’m here because I want people to feel happy when they hear me speak. For me, being non-binary means being somewhere in between genders – it’s just who I am. Books and seeing other people like me helped me vocalize that I’m non-binary,” the young person said in an email.
Trans Day of Remembrance began in 1999, founded by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman who was murdered in 1998.
READ: What to Know About Transgender Day of Remembrance and Violence Against Trans People
Since its beginning, the event has become a global observance day for trans communities and their supporters to hold vigils, read aloud the names of those who have died by suicide or violence against them, and to reaffirm a commitment to ending transphobia and violence, according to Pray.
“We remember those we’ve lost, stand with the trans community and commit to creating a world where every trans person can live freely, safely and proudly,” Pray said.
What: Trans Day of Remembrance & Resilience
When: Today, November 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Where: The former Bucks County Courthouse located at 55 East Court Street, Doylestown
Note: If it rains this evening the event will be moved indoors to Rainbow Room at 186 E. Court Street
