The installation was completely white, consisting of four PVC pipes arranged in a square, with a few dozen helium balloons attached, each representing one murder or suicide of a transgender person within the last year. Thursday, Nov. 19 was the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and to commemorate the occasion the Gay Trans Straight Alliance set up a special installation and held a vigil during X-block in the Atrium.

Senior Allegra Bradley led the vigil, announcing the purpose of the day is honoring the victims of transphobia and explaining the origins of the day in the murder of Rita Hester in Boston in 1998 and the need for continued action to ensure equality for people of all gender identities. Each name of the dead was read aloud by the crowd that assembled.

Junior Eli Levin guided a debrief of the day in room 309 after school, opening up a discussion on reactions to the event and feedback for how to improve it in the future. According to Levin, the day was a success for promoting awareness of transgender issues.
“It was a good day for trans students to feel that they can voice their concerns,” Levin said. “Overall I think it was dealt well, people were very respectful of what we were doing. I noticed with myself and my other friends who identify as trans, people were very good on checking up on them and making sure they were okay, which is a great thing to be seeing.”