Transgender flag flies in Tacoma for the first time to remember lives lost to violence
For the first time, the City of Tacoma will officially acknowledge Transgender Day of Remembrance on Saturday, Nov. 20, in honor of lives lost from trans violence.
Members and supporters of the transgender community in Tacoma gathered at Ben Gilbert Park near City Hall on Friday to raise the transgender flag for the first time on city property.
The flag, which is composed of five horizontal stripes, two blue, two pink and one white in the middle, will fly at half staff through the weekend.
“We are here to raise awareness of the threat of violence faced by gender diverse people and the persistence of prejudice felt by the transgender community,” Tacoma City Council member Kristina Walker said at Friday’s ceremony.
Oliver Webb, board chair of the Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound, which is run out of the Rainbow Center in Tacoma, said Friday that 2021 has already been the deadliest year of transgender violence since record keeping began in 1999.
“2021 has already seen at least 56 transgender and gender non-conforming individuals fatally shot or killed by other violent means in the United States, the majority of whom are Black and Latinx transgender women,” said Webb, 38.
Webb said that the Pacific Northwest has seen five deaths, including two in Washington state.
“These victims, like all of us, were loving partners, parents, family members, friends and community members. They worked, went to school and attended houses of worship. They were real people, people who did not deserve to have their lives taken from them,” he said. “These individuals were more than names on the list or political pawns. Today and every day we honor them.”
Astro Pittman, 41, is a board member at large for the Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound and also the founder of Seattle Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“It is unacceptable that transgender and gender-expansive people are killed simply because of who they are,” Pittman said at Friday’s flag ceremony. “It’s not enough to grieve the loss of victims of anti-transgender violence. We must honor their memories with action.”
Transgender Day of Remembrance began in 1998 by trans advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in Massachusetts that year. The vigil started an annual tradition.
On Tuesday, Mayor Victoria Woodards read a proclamation making Saturday, Nov. 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance in Tacoma.
“The reading of this proclamation is historic, although a long overdue first,” Woodards said Tuesday.
Webb, who also spoke at Tuesday’s Council meeting, hopes the flag will raise awareness about the lives lost to trans violence.
“It will help us know that Tacoma stands by us, and it will hopefully help educate others as we move forward, and it will help people feel safe in this city,” he said.
The Diversity Alliance of Puget Sound is hosting a memorial program and candlelight vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance from 6-8 p.m. Saturday at the Washington State History Museum auditorium, 1911 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma. A ceremony will be held during the same time in Seattle at the University Universalist Church, 6556 35th Ave. NE.
For more information, visit diversityallianceofthepugetsound.org.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 1:53 PM.
