Wall of Remembrance raises awareness about hate crimes against transgender people

The wall of 8-by-11-inch sheets of paper outside Frost building's room 262 immediately intrigues passers-by. That's exactly what HCC Counselor Jossie Valentin, Multicultural Academic Services Coordinator Myriam Quiñones and Student Senate President Alexander Pangborn had hoped for.

Each sheet represents one of 134 people killed in the past year because of their gender identity or because they had publicly supported the transgender community.

"It's dramatic and very visible and every time I walk by I see someone stopping to look," Jossie Valentin said. "These killings are hate crimes and this wall is a way for us to raise awareness on campus of that."

The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in memory of Rita Hester, a Boston transwoman killed Nov. 28, 1998, in what is believed to be a hate crime. The following year, in 1999, the Remembering Our Dead project began in San Francisco with a candlelight vigil in her memory. The day of mourning is now observed globally.

On Nov. 25, as HCC students, faculty, and staff left for the Thanksgiving holiday, Quiñones and Valentin began putting up the memorial. Though she isn't a member of the TransCampus Committee, student Erika Linares saw them working and volunteered to help. "No one has the right to judge another for who they are," said Linares. "Killing, violence, is wrong."

Pausing along the bustling hallway, faculty, staff, and students stop to look at the wall and read about the innocent lives lost this year alone. The sheets include the names of the victims, if known, their age, and the cause of death.

"For many, names or photos were not available." commented Pangborn. "They were dismissed because of their difference. This is a way to honor them and ensure they are remembered."

Although not every one represented during the Day of Remembrance was self-identified as transgender, each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.

"This should never happen," Valentin said. "Never."

In the photo above, Multicultural Academic Services Coordinator Myriam Quiñones (left) and student Erika Linares view the Wall of Remembrance.

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