Team,
On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor the transgender and gender-diverse people whose lives were taken by violence and hate. It’s a heavy day for our community, and it should be. We’re remembering people who deserved safety, joy, and a full life ahead of them.
But remembrance can’t just be reflection. It has to move us to action.
This year, we’ve seen over and over how political attacks put trans lives in danger. The Supreme Court allowed the federal government to block transgender and nonbinary Americans from updating their passport gender markers. Hundreds of anti-trans bills were introduced across the country. And earlier this year, the federal government shut down one of the biggest LGBTQ+ youth crisis hotline programs, cutting off a lifeline for young people who often have nowhere else to turn.
That wasn’t about budgets or efficiency. It was part of a deliberate pattern of erasure, targeting the most vulnerable and isolating trans youth at the moments they most need support.
As a gay man and as a leader in the Washington State Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, I take this personally. I know how painful discrimination can be, and how much it matters to know someone has your back. That’s why I’ve worked to ban conversion therapy, protect gender-affirming care, expand healthcare access, and ensure schools affirm and protect trans students. And I’m not done.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is also a reminder that laws alone aren’t enough. We have to keep strengthening the support systems that help trans people live safely, freely, and authentically – including crisis services abandoned by the federal government.
If you want to honor this day through meaningful action, I’m asking you to help us continue that work. Together, we can expand local support, protect essential services, and defend the rights extremists are trying to take away.
Thank you for standing with our trans neighbors today and always.
Marko
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