Windsor's Transgender community held a day of remembrance Tuesday night to remember those who have died as a result of transphobia.
A memorial and a film screening of the Oscar-winning film 'A Fantastic Woman' were held at the University of Windsor's School of Creative Arts downtown. Twenty-two names were read aloud honouring victims in 2018 from LA to Buffalo and Orlando to Cleveland.
Transgender Day of Remembrance. Nov 20, 2018. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
Jayce Carver, executive director of WE Trans Support, said trans violence is still very prevalent in our community.
"Violence isn't always being murdered or beaten but is also being denied access to services and health care, which is still happening in our community today," said Carver.
Carver said more work needs to be done to support transgender people in the Windsor area but our community has a lot more to offer than most other areas in Ontario.
"We have been really fortunate as the only trans centre in Canada to be able to work very closely with our hospitals and community leaders to start to change that narrative for our community. So, we are quite fortunate here but still so much more work to do," she said.
Carver added that a recent resolution passed by the Ontario Conservatives at their convention in Toronto on Saturday is an example of trans violence. The resolution asks the government to consider removing gender identity from the provincial school curriculum. Carver said the resolution is damaging because youth start to think that their identities are an ideology and not valid identities. The resolution is not law yet and Carver believes it will be rescinded before it gets to that stage.
Transgender civil rights and freedoms have been in place since 2011.
Carver said transgender people in the Windsor area are luckier than others because there is a drop in centre with support services for them and their families.
"Our model is being nationally recognized and we have been travelling to show this model to other communities. I think we are more fortunate here but I still think there is a lot of transphobia in this community and a lot of trans violence," Carver said.