Living as your own, authentic self is getting harder. Members of our trans community have it harder than most and bear the brunt of ignorance and hatred towards the broader LGBTQ community.

Trans Day of Remembrance is Wednesday, Nov. 20, and Wilton Manors will again be the center of events. Arianna’s Center, TransSOCIAL, and TransInclusive Group will host the evening’s events.

At 5:30 p.m., right at sunset, people will gather at Justin Flippen Park (across from city hall). After a few words, the group will march down Wilton Drive to Five Points and then back down Dixie Hwy. to The Pride Center.

Food will be served and the program, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will feature musical performances, spoken word, and remembrances of those we’ve lost.

In the first six months of this year, 28 trans people were killed in America. The actual number is likely much higher. Victims are often disrespected in death as families and police will deadname and misgender them.

This lack of identification often means their friends or “chosen family” have no idea what happened because victims aren’t named properly.

Florida and the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis has focused on making life hard for trans specifically and the state’s LGBTQ community generally. With the incoming Trump administration, oppression from the federal level is not far behind.