A group of activists and community members carrying candles and banners marched over the Brooklyn Bridge on Nov. 20 to commemorate transgender individuals who have been victims of violence. The fifth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance March was organized by the Brooklyn Community Pride Center to raise awareness and increase the visibility of the transgender community.

After crossing the bridge, the marchers continued on to the BCPC on West 13th Street for a vigil, where the names of those lost were read aloud.

Erin Drinkwater, the executive director of the center, said the march was meant to memorialize those who have died and to speak out against the violence faced by transgender individuals.

“Today we honor those lives that were lost, but we also want to lift up those who are working everyday to make sure that violence against the community ends,” Drinkwater said.

BCPC volunteer Tomas Ilga, 25, said he hoped the march would remind people of the work that still needs to be done to raise awareness about the transgender community.

“Transgender remembrance is not just commemorating the people who have been suffering from transphobic violence, but also showing that there is still much work to do, in terms of social inclusion of transgender individuals and basically organize a public action to raise awareness,” Ilga said.

Video by Daniel Cole

Students from the LGBTQ student organization at Brooklyn College also participated in the march. David McKay, director of the LGBTQ Resource Center at Brooklyn College, said he and his students stand in solidarity with the trans community.

“I’m marching with my students to show support,” McKay said. “This is the second time that the student organization of Brooklyn College has participated.”

Charlie Kerr, a Brooklyn College senior, marched to commemorate those who died and to reach out to people to reach out to people outside the transgender community.

“I’m a transgender woman, and so many transgender people especially trans women of color, and trans homeless people face such huge amounts of violence, and there’s so many deaths that go unreported or they go unheard about in the mainstream media,” Kerve said. “I am marching to both memorialize my fallen sisters and brothers and show people who might not be in the activist loop that transgender people’s lives matter.”

Email Valentina Duque Bojanini at [email protected].