San Jose, CA – On November 22, the San Jose People’s Pride Coalition held a vigil and march for Trans Day of Remembrance, a day commemorating the lives lost to transphobia.

“Fight Trump’s Hate, Honor Their Names” was the theme of this year’s action as Trump and Republicans’ attacks on trans people and other oppressed people continue to ramp up.

The event started with emcee Evelyn Cooper asking a member of the crowd to say the names of the 58 people who have died since the last Trans Day of Remembrance. Pictures of all of those named, along with candles, were laid in front of the speakers to underscore the number of those killed.

People’s Pride organizer Hazel Tongzhi began the evening by emphasizing that attacks on trans people did not start with Trump’s administration but are part of a larger systemic issue. “Those who died to violence are almost entirely oppressed nationalities – Black and Chicano – trans women. This is not mere coincidence. This is the structural issue of transphobia and transmisogyny particularly and the intersection of it with race and class,” stated Tongzhi.