GNW ministries to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance as they build community partnerships, trust

As Transgender Day of Remembrance approaches on Nov. 20, various ministries across the Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church understand the significance of their call to honor this day with God’s beloved transgender siblings and allies.

“Jesus is always found with the suffering, and if we want to be followers of Jesus, we go where he goes. We go where he leads,” said Naphtali Renshaw, director of the BeLonging Space in Eugene, a ministry of the Crater Lake District Extension Society. “Right now, I think Jesus is very present with his trans siblings.”

Ministries such as the BeLonging Space, Whitney United Methodist Church in Boise, Bellevue First UMC near Seattle and Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church in Vancouver, Wash., were all working with community and ecumenical partners to honor this important date before the national election results came through on Nov. 5.

This presidential election cycle was filled with divisive messages of hate – including ads that described transgender persons as people to fear instead of people who live in constant fear – in the name of Christian Nationalism.

Gathering in safe spaces – truly open and welcoming safe spaces – to honor all transgender siblings who have died in the last year feels like an urgent Gospel imperative to many faith communities in this post-election time of uncertainty.

According to GLAAD, Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed in late November in recognition of the 1998 murder of Rita Hester. Rita was a highly visible member of the transgender community in her native Boston, Mass., where she worked locally on education around transgender issues.

On Saturday, Nov. 28, Rita was stabbed 20 times in her apartment. A neighbor called the police, and Rita was rushed to the hospital. She passed away from cardiac arrest only moments after being admitted. GLAAD reports that two decades later, police still have not found Rita’s murderer (or murderers). 

In 1999, one year after Rita’s murder, advocate and writer Gwendolyn Ann Smith coordinated a vigil in Rita’s honor. The vigil commemorated not only Rita, but all who were tragically lost to anti-transgender violence.

In February, Everytown for Gun Safety released its annual study that showed in 2023, there were 35 homicides of transgender or gender-expansive people; 80 percent of these were with a gun. Black trans women face the bulk of the violence and represented 50 percent of the number of gun homicides.

Between 2017 and 2023, there were 263 homicides of transgender or gender-expansive people.

This data does not include rates of suicidal death, non-fatal violence, self-harm or trauma inflicted on transgender people.

“It’s crucial to remember that behind every data point in this report, there is a real person whose life was cut short because they were simply trying to live as their most authentic selves,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, in the publication of this report.

In Boise, Whitney UMC will partner with one local Presbyterian and one local Lutheran congregation to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is the first time the three faith communities, who are all engaged in ecumenical campus ministries at Boise State, will come together to honor this day.

“It feels like an important part of visibility and ensuring that our queer community is seen and cared for,” said Rev. Hannah Andres of Whitney UMC.

While the political landscape remains dangerous for the transgender community, Andres reported that the Boise community has been stepping forward in acts of solidarity by including a march for transgender rights in the middle of the PRIDE festival to celebrate the joy and resiliency of transgender siblings in Christ.

“We want to say to our transgender siblings, ‘not only is there space for you in this community, but we mourn along with you for the harm that has been done,’” Andres said.

This will be the second year Vancouver Heights UMC has participated in Transgender Day of Remembrance – this year with a specific invite from Odyssey World International Education Services, the coordinators of the local vigil on Nov. 20.

Rev. Dr. Byron Harris said after the church had shown up for a couple of years with a booth at Vancouver Pride in the Park as well as the community’s Peace with Justice Fair, the executive director of the Odyssey educational program approached the church’s booth and asked, as a religious institution, how committed Vancouver Heights UMC was to “justice issues” for marginalized groups within marginalized communities.

Harris can point to the church’s long-held values of inclusion, the work of an internal equity audit, and the social principles of The United Methodist Church that says God’s love for the world is “an active an engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty.” This calls for United Methodists to not just be observers but act with their faith.

“So, for me as the pastor of Vancouver Heights United Methodist Church the question becomes: How could we not get involved in the justice work of our beloved Trans community?” Harris said.

Almost 10 years ago, Bellevue First UMC started partnering with the Emerald City Social Club and the local chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays) to hold a Transgender Day of Remembrance service in their community.

Longtime member Darlene Pollard said the church offers a service of lament and typically invites a transgender community member or ally to speak to the individuals gathered. Additionally, the church has put out posters in their lawn with the name and some details on each person who died from violence over the course of the last year.

“We started doing it, thinking we could be allies,” Pollard said. “The transgender community has been very supportive.”

Pollard said the church typically puts those posters up during PRIDE month in June, and this year all their signs were removed from their lawn. But the church will continue to place those signs in their lawn this next week.

In Eugene, The BeLonging Space has been intentional about creating supportive relationships with its queer community in places – church – where they have been harmed and exiled over generations.

The BeLonging Space is now sharing space with the Lavender Network’s community resource center (located in the former Trinity UMC building), a local non-profit organization that provides community services and supportive space for the queer and transgender community in Eugene.

This year The BeLonging Space is coordinating satellite sites for Trans Day of Remembrance in Eugene on Nov. 20, one of which will be at the Lavender Network’s community center.

 The Lavender Network hosted an election night watch party for the queer community – including transgender friends who drove from three hours away to be in a supportive, safe community on election night. Renshaw said as the results came in, she watched fear and anger form on the faces of transgender friends with whom she was sitting.

“There are literal lives on the line,” she said.

Renshaw said churches have historically not been supportive of the queer and transgender community. It takes time, showing up, listening and acting authentically, to begin building relationships of trust with resilient communities who have been marginalized – and often traumatized – by the church.

There are ways to start, though, building an authentic relationship, Renshaw said. Churches can place transgender flags in their windows, but she suggests following that up with a commitment to building relationships with the transgender community and offering safe space. Consider hosting a vigil on November 20 or participate in one in your local community. Consider what financial resources can be contributed to support the transgender community. All of it is needed, now more than ever.

“The building I’m in, my community, every single day I’m walking in with people whose lives are on the line,” Renshaw said. “It’s a lot of trust that’s required. How do I walk in in a posture of concern that lets them know I’m not going to betray them?”