LGBTQ community advocates and allies gathered Nov. 20 on Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) at St. Petersburg City Hall to honor the known transgender lives lost in 2018.
Attendees met at the city’s Sunshine Senior Center for a candlelight processional that ended at the steps of City Hall for the memorial. The 2018 vigil, organized by 6S Boutique owner Andrew Citino and gender therapist Tristan Byrnes, featured a wide array of speakers that included Mayor Rick Kriseman. The mayor read from the city’s proclamation naming Nov. 20 TDoR.
“St. Petersburg honors the bravery and resilience of the thousands of transgender individuals who live, work or play in our city in their authentic gender,” Kriseman read. “Although we are proud of the existing protections we have in place for transgender individuals to pursue their lives in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County, we reaffirm a commitment to ongoing efforts to promote full inclusion of transgender individuals in the city.”
You can watch the full video of the mayor’s speech below, courtesy of Citino and the St. Petersburg TDoR Facebook page:
Photo by Ryan Williams-Jent.
