A single candle burns on top of a rainbow flag in the center of Howard Park. One by one, people walk to the center, read a series of names and bend down to light individual candles. They then return to the circle of about 40, shielding their candles from the wind.
Some names have multiple last names, some have none. Some cards have ages, others have locations. The names are from all over the world, but they have one commonality – the people listed were victims of hate crimes due to their identifying as transgender.
This is the third time the Trans* Day of Remembrance Vigil has taken place, coordinated by student advocacy group ALLY. Along with the candle lighting were spoken words and musical performances.
Caitlin Phillips, a sophomore studying social work, played a cover of the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero.”
“I didn’t want anything too sad,” Phillips said. “I wanted something that was somber but uplifting at the same time.”
Phillips attended the ceremony with second-year doctoral student Dani Knowles, who is studying counselor education. The pair have been dating for nine months.
Knowles said, along with being interested in LGBT rights, she and Phillips had friends who invited them to the event.
“It was amazing to hear all the different names and knowing that not even half of them are being read,” Knowles said.
Megan Villegas, a graduate assistant for the LGBT Center, said hearing the names of the dead read aloud holds a different significance than seeing the names in a different media, like on the news or on a computer screen.
“I think anything that gets us to slow down for a minute and think about what’s happening in a real time way (is important),” she said. “To have something visceral and to participate in that kind of moment, I think, packs a wallop.”
Delfin Bautista, the director of the LGBT Center, spoke at the vigil.
“The beauty of the vigil is that it was student-run, student-led, student-organized and so it’s very meaningful to see it all come together,” Bautista said.
Ryan Vollrath, a senior studying history and psychology, has organized for the vigil for the past three years. Vollrath ended the ceremony, placing a card that represented 58 unidentified transgender bodies and the countless others that have not been found.
With a few closing words from Vollrath, the crowd blew out their candles and headed out of the 31 degree weather.
“I think the fire has a lot of significance in terms of it’s fragile… it also though provides light,” Vollrath said. “At the end blowing it out is that reminder that this is a serious thing, these people are dead.”
eb104010@ohiou.edu
@EmilyMBamforth
This article appeared in print under the headline "Students honor transgender hate crime victims at vigil"
