Trans community gathers in Woodstock to remember those who have died this year

For the past few years, seeing the names and faces of trans women who died in the previous year has been hard for Jodie Lynne Paul.

As the trans life care coordinator at the Chicago House and Social Services Agency, those faces have included people who she worked with.

They were “people I know, who either crossed by path or I knew them quite well,” Paul said.

She was among 20 people who came on Sunday night for Woodstock Pride’s Transgender Day of Remembrance. Since 1999, Nov. 20 has been set aside to honor trans people who died, either by suicide, violence, or in ways connected to their status as a trans person, said Cris Squires, president of the local pride organization.

From Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022, 70 trans people died from violence across the country, Squires said. She also noted the mass shooting late Saturday night at the Q Night Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to media reports, the night club was a popular gathering place for LGTBQ residents.

They, and other trans people “are bravely living in a society that is actively hostile to them,” Squires said.

Kristin Dahnert, of Lindenhurst, was one of the trans women who spoke. She has been an activist for the community since she began transitioning at age 50, Dahnert said. What she has found recently is she is angry, Dahnert said, that she is continuing to fight the same battles, including ones she thought were over.

In recent years, she has argued in front of school boards over bathroom access for trans students, access to playing sports, over banned books, and laws attempting to make trans health care illegal. “We are still battling them,” Dahnert said.

Since about 2015, it does seem that things are getting worse for trans people, she said, noting “dog whistle” legislative bills focused on trans issues.

There have been 162 pieces of legislation in 35 states that “compromise the ability of trans people to live in society,” Squires said.

“Even in Illinois, a blue, progressive state, we are not immune” to attempts to pass legislation, she added.

Paul said she saw one of the trans women who died in the past year, who drowned in Illinois, at a roundtable event with Gov. JB Pritzker. They locked eyes and said “Oh, it is you!” to each other, according to Paul.

“I followed her at a distance for a number of years” and saw her become an activist in more recent years. Then, the woman disappeared before being found in March, in Lake Michigan.

The reality is that for trans women of color, their life expectancy is only 35 years and many turn to living on the street and sex work to survive, Paul said.

Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, there was no language for what she felt, Paul said. But when she began, 80% to 90% of her coworkers were supportive.

Another trans woman, who came to the Woodstock event from Racine, said she came out as trans at age 66. “It cost me my job, my marriage, and a few friends,” Tessa Brown said.

She came to the event, Brown added, because she was bored and looking for something she could do “not just to exist ... more to do something to make a difference.”

Dahnert said she was ready to take a break from her activism, because she was feeling burnt out because of the ongoing fights. She warned both trans activists and allies to take a step back now and then.

“Don’t let it consume your life. You have to live your life, too,” Dahnert said.