Local
Trans community, allies observe Day of Remembrance
Activists vow to persevere following year of increase in anti-trans violence
Participants pause to remember those who have been the victims of anti-trans violence. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
More than 150 people turned out Sunday night at D.C.’s Metropolitan Community Church for the 12th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, an international event that recognizes transgender people who have lost their lives to anti-trans violence.
Organizers said the annual observance began in 1999 in recognition of Rita Hester, a transgender woman in Boston who was killed the previous year in what authorities have called an anti-transgender hate crime. Since that time, Transgender Day of Remembrance events have taken place in dozens of cities in the U.S. and abroad.
“These were our brothers and sisters, family members, friends, people of faith, innocent and quite often, as is the case in this crazy world of ours, they have been taken from us by violence,” said transgender activist Jessica Xavier, one of the organizers of the D.C. event.
“But they’re not martyrs,” Xavier said. “They didn’t die for a cause. They weren’t a member of any political movement. They were human beings, just like all of us…This is a time for caring and compassion, for healing and for hope, for sorrow but also strength.”
MORE IN THE BLADE: TRANS ACTIVISTS HOLD PROTEST OUTSIDE POLICE, US ATTORNEY OFFICES
The highlight of the event included the reading of the names of transgender people from the D.C. area and others from across the nation and throughout the world that lost their lives to hate violence based on their gender identity or expression.
Following the reading of each name, the audience responded by saying, “We remember them.”
Transgender activists Julius Agers and Ruby Corado read the names of local transgender victims who lost their lives between 2000 and 2009 and international victims, including several from Latin America, who lost their lives in 2011.
Corado read the name of Lashai Mclean, a 23-year-old D.C. transgender woman who was shot to death in Northeast D.C. in August of this year. Agers read the name of Gaurav “Gigi” Gopalan, a 35-year-old aerospace engineer who was found fatally wounded on a sidewalk in the city’s Columbia Heights section on Sept. 10 of this year.
Police said Gopalan died in a hospital a short time later of blunt force trauma to the head. Police have yet to make an arrest in either of the two cases.
Gopalan, who lived his professional life as an out gay man, was dressed in women’s clothes when he was found unconscious on the street, according to police. Although many of Gopalan’s friends said they considered him a gay man, transgender activists say he likely was targeted because of his appearance as a transgender woman.
Earline Budd of Transgender Health Empowerment. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Earline Budd, an official with the D.C. organization Transgender Health Empowerment and the lead organizer of Sunday night’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, said the event has grown significantly over the past several years.
Budd told the gathering that a greater recognition that anti-transgender violence is rooted in ignorance, hatred and discrimination would lead to the eventual decrease in such violence.
Budd and transgender activist Ruby Corado said they were encouraged by the large numbers of gays, lesbians and straight allies that have joined the effort to fight anti-transgender violence. Corado praised D.C. police officials, including Chief of Police Cathy Lanier, for speaking out and establishing internal police policies aimed at curtailing anti-transgender discrimination.
However, the two said police have yet to solve a string of violent attacks over the past several years against transgender residents of the District, including the murders this year of Mclean and Gopalan.
“You’re hearing an outcry from the community for getting these cases solved,” said Budd. “And again, I’m going to appeal to Chief Lanier to do more in terms of trying to solve some of these transgender murders.”
Police have said murders of both transgender people and gay men often are difficult to solve because the perpetrators usually are strangers whom the victims met at the time of or shortly before the murder. Police say most of the non-LGBT murders are committed by people who have had some type of relationship with the victim, making it easier for investigators to find witnesses who identify a suspect.
Jeffrey Richardson, director of D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s Office of LGBT Affairs, told the gathering that Gray considers transgender residents an important part of the city’s diverse and vibrant community.
“We believe people are to be judged by the content of their character, not by their gender identity,” Richardson said. “Let’s rid our city and our country of the hatred that leads to violence and the loss of life.”
Rev. Abena McCray, pastor of Unity Fellowship Church. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Rev. Abena McCray, pastor of Unity Fellowship Church of D.C., which has a largely African American LGBT congregation, said transgender residents are welcome in the city’s faith community.
Following a selection of songs by her church’s Agape Praise Choir, McCray delivered a sermon-like talk calling for acceptance and support for the city’s transgender residents.
“You are unique, and the Creator loves you just as you are,” she said. “You are not a mistake. God doesn’t make mistakes…We celebrate transgender today. Lord, you knew what you were doing when you created transgender.”
Corado said support of the event by the larger LGBT community has been uplifting to transgender residents despite the continued incidents of anti-trans violence in D.C.
“I am extremely happy because the support that we have gotten from the LGBT community and allies has been outstanding in the last couple of years,” she said. “It’s just amazing that people do care about what happens to us. And it makes us feel like we’re not alone.”
Transgender activist Jason Terry of the D.C. Trans Coalition said he is encouraged that the Day of Remembrance took place less than a week after the White House hosted an historic, first-ever meeting on transgender issues, including the issue of anti-trans violence.
“This is a great event, as always,” he said of the Day of Remembrance. “It’s so important to pause and remember those that we’ve lost. We’ve had a bad year. The way we honor those deaths is by moving forward towards justice.”
Virginia
Two gay candidates running in ‘firehouse’ Va. House of Delegates primary in Alexandria
Kirk McPike, Gregory Darrall hope to succeed delegate vying for Ebbin’s seat
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike and gay public school teacher Gregory Darrall, who serves as vice president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, are among four candidates running in a Jan. 20 “firehouse” Democratic primary for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
With less than a week’s notice, Democratic Party officials in Alexandria called the primary to select a Democratic nominee to run in a Feb. 10 special election to fill the 5th House District seat being vacated by state Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria).
Bennett-Parker won the Democratic nomination for the Virginia Senate seat being vacated by gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who is resigning from the seat to take a position in the administration of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who took office on Jan. 17.
Bennett-Parker won the nomination for the state Senate seat in yet another firehouse primary on Jan. 13 in which she defeated three other candidates, including gay former state Del. Mark Levine.
The Jan. 20 primary in which McPike and Darrall are competing will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in two polling places in Alexandria: the Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library at 5005 Duke St. and the Charles Houston Recreation Center at 901 Wythe St.
The other two candidates running are former Alexandria City School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera and criminal law defense attorney Chris Leibig.
McPike, who first won election to the Alexandria City Council in 2021, served for 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) prior to winning election to the Alexandria City Council.
“Now, Kirk is ready to bring his experience to Richmond to keep improving the lives of all Virginians as our delegate for House District 5,” his campaign website says. His website writeup says he and his husband, Cantor Jason Kaufman, have lived in Alexandria’s Seminary Hill neighborhood for 15 years.
“As delegate, we can count on Kirk to keep delivering for us — helping Virginia maintain our commitments to our schools, our first responders, and our efforts to address climate change, housing affordability, and infrastructure,” the website statement says.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter and advocate, has been endorsed by Ebbin and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). Beyer said in a statement that McPike “has a proven track record of delivering results for Alexandrians.” The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which raises money for LGBTQ candidates running for public office, has also endorsed McPike.
Darrall’s campaign website says he is a “proud progressive, lifelong educator, and labor leader running to put people first.” It says he is a political newcomer “with more than 20 years in the classroom” as a teacher who played a key role in the successful unionization of Fairfax Public Schools.
“He is a proud member and staunch supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community,” his website statement says. It says he met his husband Jose while living in Miami and the two operated a small business in South Florida for a decade before moving to Alexandria in 2015. It adds that Darrall is “fluent in Spanish, loves walking Alexandria’s neighborhoods, and is driven by a deep belief in fairness, equality, and strengthening our democracy from the ground up.”
The Alexandria Republican City Committee nominated local business executive Mason Butler as the Republican nominee for the House of Delegates seat in the Feb. 10 special election after he emerged as the only GOP candidate running for the seat, according to the Alexandria Brief publication. He will face the Democratic winner in the Jan. 20 firehouse primary.
The Washington Blade is seeking to determine GOP candidate Butler’s and Democratic candidates Leibig’s and Rivera’s positions on LGBTQ-related issues and will update this story if their positions on those issues can be determined.
Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as the 75th governor of Virginia at a ceremony on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol on Saturday. Thousands of spectators watched the swearing-in ceremony and parade, despite the rain and temperatures in the low 40s.
Spanberger, a member of the Democratic Party and an LGBTQ ally, became the first woman to be Virginia’s governor.
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Newly-elected Attorney General Jay Jones, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, and Spanberger were each administered the oath of office in the public ceremony.
Republican former Gov. Glenn Youngkin left the ceremony shortly after the oath of office was administered to Spanberger and before the inaugural address.
In her speech, the new governor made an appeal to bipartisanship and looking past division in our current moment.
“To my friends in the General Assembly — on both sides of the aisle — I look forward to working with you,” said Spanberger. “I know what it means to represent your constituents, to work hard for your district, and to pursue policies you believe in. We will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say that we do not have to see eye-to-eye on every issue in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on others.”
Spanberger acknowledged Virginians’ frustrations with federal layoffs and governmental policy.
“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting healthcare access, imperiling rural hospitals, and driving up costs,” said Spanberger. “You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”
Spanberger alluded to the Trump administration, though never mentioned President Donald Trump’s name in her remarks.
Spanberger said, “you are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net, and sowing fear across our communities, betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”
The new governor then spoke of her priorities in office, pledging to tackle housing affordability by working to “cut red tape” and increase housing supply. Spanberger also spoke of forestalling an impending healthcare crisis by protecting access and cracking down on “middlemen who are driving up drug prices.”
Spanberger spoke of investments in education at every level, standing up for workers (including the large number of federal workers in Virginia), and taking action on gun violence.
Virginia married couple Mary Townley and Carol Schall witnessed the inauguration ceremony from the stands set up on the grounds of the Capitol. Schall and Townley are one of the plaintiff couples in the case that challenged the Virginia constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Virginia in 2014.
“We are delighted with the inauguration of Abigail Spanberger as governor of Virginia,” Schall told the Washington Blade. “The celebration of her inauguration was full of the beautiful diversity that is Virginia. The Virginia Pride contingent was included as a part of what makes Virginia a great place to live.”
“Such an honor to attend such a wonderful event in Virginia history,” Townley told the Blade. “The weather before the Inauguration was cold and rainy, but I believe it represented the end of a dreary time and it ushered in the dry and sunny weather by the end of the inaugural parade. Madam Governor brought us to the light!”
The inaugural parade following the governor’s remarks included a contingent from Diversity Richmond and Virginia Pride. Marchers in the LGBTQ contingent carried a giant Progress Pride flag and were met with loud cheers from the gathered spectators.
Spanberger after her inauguration signed 10 executive orders. One of them bans discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors.
“By virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor under Article V of the Constitution of
Virginia, I hereby declare that it is the firm and unwavering policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia to ensure equal opportunity in all facets of state government,” reads the executive order. “The foundational tenet of this executive order is premised upon a steadfast commitment to foster a culture of inclusion, diversity, and mutual respect for all Virginians.”
Virginia
VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade
Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday
The inaugural ceremonies for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger were held in Richmond, Va. on Saturday. Among the groups marching in the parade were Diversity Richmond and the Virginia Pride project of Diversity Richmond.
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