Transgender Day of Remembrance: San Francisco honors lives lost as it continues to serve as a safe haven city

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Dozens of people gathered outside San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance.

For years, San Francisco has been a safe haven for trans people facing discrimination in other parts of the world.

“Any time, you could experience someone who is just incensed and hateful just because you’re existing,” said Cherry Javier.

As for millions of other people worldwide, Transgender Day of Remembrance is an important yet difficult day for Javier.

Over the past year, her community has continued to face seemingly innumerable challenges — with everything from disproportionate rates of poverty and homelessness to even death.

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“If we’re lucky, it’s from old age, but unfortunately it’s more than likely from systemic issues or just straight up violence,” Javier said.

San Francisco has long been a safe haven for trans individuals. The first Transgender Day of Remembrance was held here in 1999.

Events like the 1966 Compton Cafeteria Riot in the Tenderloin, as well as other large-scale protests, were some of first civil acts of disobedience for the trans community.

“A lot of our living elders remember a day when they were facing even higher levels of violence and threats,” Javier said.

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Many of those threats have come from state legislatures around the country and sometimes even the federal government. In recent years, there have been hundreds of anti-trans bills and lawsuits, several of them with far-reaching impacts.

“The foundation of the case may be about a trans issue or a trans-related issue, but the impacts of the case, the impacts of the ruling or the decision will ultimately impact a lot of different communities,” said Mariah Moore of the Transgender Law Center.

In the face of challenges, Javier says the local trans community remains strong.

Determined to fight for a better future, not just for themselves, but also for others.

“I think we will come to a point where being trans is less of an issue. I think it’s also wrapped up in these other prejudices we have as a society that kind of go hand-in-hand,” Javier said.