In the rain huddled under tents and umbrellas, a few dozen State College residents gathered on the Transgender Day of Remembrance on Wednesday to honor those who died in the past year from Anti-transgender violence.
Centre LGBT+ hosted the vigil at Penn State’s Allen Street gates.
Michel Lee Garrett is a board member with Centre LGBT+. She told the crowd the Transgender Day of Remembrance is a day where the community can give each other strength and show resilience.
Last week, Centre LGBT+ hosted a meeting of 20 faith leaders in State College to discuss how to support the community at this time. One thing that came out of the meeting was a letter titled “Faith calls us to love and support the LGBTQ+ community.”
Rev. Tracy Sprowls, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County, was part of the group that wrote the letter. She attended the vigil and said her calling in her 26 years as a faith leader has been to care for people.
“You feel alone, and social media makes you feel alone, and I think an authoritarian government wants you to feel alone, but we are not alone, " Rev Sprowls said. “We are creating networks, and we are stronger than ever. And we will keep working to get through this together.”
Rev. Rebecca Horn, pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Centre Hall, also signed the letter. She said all people are created in the image of God and letting the community know they are beloved for who they are is important.
“If we could love each other a little better,” Rev. Horn said, “it would be a much better world.”
Many community members, including Mayor Ezra Nanes, shared words of encouragement, positivity and hope during the vigil.