Ethan Vazquez walked with 20 others down North Halsted Street holding electric candles Thursday night during one of many Transgender Day of Remembrance celebrations held throughout the city.<\/p>\n
The day has been observed every Nov. 20 since 1999 as a way to honor members of the community who had died or been killed.<\/p>\n
There are \u201ctoo many [people] to choose from,\u201d said Vazquez, a trans man and lifelong Chicagoan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important just knowing there is support out there in times of grief \u2014 and that we won\u2019t forget,\u201d Vazquez said on the largely quiet mile walk.<\/p>\n
But this year\u2019s Day of Remembrance came amid an increasingly tough times for trans people: Major Chicago health institutions dropping<\/a> trans youth care, federal threats to local schools<\/a> and school systems<\/a> over support for trans students, and Supreme Court rulings backing a gender care ban for youth<\/a> in Tennessee and temporarily blocking accurate passports<\/a> for trans people.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year we\u2019ve seen the real threat of the administration,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cThe passport stuff is just the beginning, there\u2019s a real present threat where before it was just talk. It feels more urgent.<\/p>\n In response, rapid response health care teams<\/a> have stepped in to connect people to needed care, a state legal hotline was established<\/a> and hundreds have taken to the streets to voice support<\/a> for the trans community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Around two dozen people including members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence march along North Halsted Street with electric candles to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance, Thursday.<\/p>\n | A woman writes names on Sister Auntie Gayme\u2019s Cloak of Remembrance at Centers on Halsted during Transgender Day of Remembrance event Thursday.<\/p>\n | Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and others, including Ethan Vazquez (center), march along North Halsted Street with electric candles to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance, Thursday.<\/p>\n | But even in Illinois \u2014 where many have fled<\/a> as persecution against them ramps up in other states \u2014 29 trans teens have died by suicide this year, according to a count by Trans Up Front Illinois, a volunteer, statewide trans youth advocacy group. That\u2019s compared to four last year, and six the year before that.<\/p>\n \u201cThis administration is targeting our children, they\u2019re trying to take the next generation,\u201d executive director of Trans Up Front Asher McMaher said. \u201cThese kids can\u2019t see the other side of it, so much has happened in not even a year, they can\u2019t fathom the next three years or beyond that. \u2026 The discrimination, even in our sanctuary state, is awful and people are emboldened by this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n The number is likely an undercount, as it only consists of cases reported to them.<\/p>\n The Cook County Medical Examiner\u2019s office doesn\u2019t keep track of when someone dies is transgender. Some trans people are misgendered in death records because they did not change their documents, office officials said. Children being closeted, not having supportive families that would make their identity known to the public and families\u2019 fears of public backlash also can stop some from being reported, McMaher said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s coincided with a sharp uptick in calls to the state\u2019s suicide hotline specifically geared toward LGBTQ+ youth, 988, which remains standing after the federal government shut down the nationwide version in June. Illinois\u2019 iteration has received more than 150,000 calls this year and is expected to surpass 180,000 by January \u2014 12,000 more than last year.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a pattern that has come with the expanding wave of legislation targeting trans people federally. According to a one study, states that passed anti-trans laws aimed at youth in recent years saw suicide attempts among trans teens increase by as much as 72%<\/a> after the bills were signed.<\/p>\n Albie Gutierrez, a bilingual therapist with the Chicago Therapy Collective, said she has seen an increase in recent months for mental health care for trans patients, specifically those who are immigrants. The therapy group plans to expand its number of Spanish-speaking clinicians next year.<\/p>\n Gutierrez was also a friend of Elise Malary<\/a>, a Chicago Black trans activist who fought for economic justice for trans people locally, and was found dead nearly three and a half years ago<\/a> in Evanston.<\/p>\n Her manner of death was never determined<\/a>, and Evanston police said there have been no updates in the case. Nearly 86% of CPD cases involving the murder of trans women had not been resolved<\/a>, per a 2024 analysis of police data.<\/p>\n
\n Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
\n Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
\n Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n