The annual trans vigil was held in Eden Court in Inverness
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00:00They are clumped a little. I did notice even on the ones I have read out that a number from the
00:06same place were on the same date and you cannot help but wonder if maybe they were caught in a
00:15group or together. The list is longer I believe than last year. A vast number of suicides from the
00:23US, two suicides from the UK. We don't know what happens in China and Russia because they don't
00:30record these things. With the recent election results in the US I think we are already seeing
00:37and will see a further rise in targeting for want of a better word there because that's what Trump
00:47he doesn't encourage it he never tacitly says it but his followers get the idea that they can do
00:52this now because he's in the White House. It's not necessarily down to him but somewhere down the line
00:59he is encouraging that sort of atmosphere even possibly inadvertently. I'm quite likely to take
01:07the list home and study it further just to try and gain more insights but lots of stabbings lots of
01:15shootings and one or two other really quite hideous things that suggest that whoever did it
01:23was being far more inventive than anybody really he deserves just for being there. We just have to
01:31keep educating I think we just have to keep being visible. I am a great advocate of not hiding in
01:39one's house because I don't think that's healthy that's not living that's just surviving. I think
01:43the more we just educate the more we normalize that's the word the more we're just another person
01:52that they might see in the street. The key is just getting through this stage where everybody hates us
01:58or seemingly everybody hates us it's not actually true but it can you read out 400 odd names
02:05and it can sometimes feel that way. We are not all alone in the dark it is getting better.
02:13It's important to do it because it's important as I say to be visible to be seen and to be seen
02:20to be seen. The crowd here tonight was to my eyes fairly young they need the knowledge that they're
02:28not alone that they're not the only one. It's really encouraging also that so many of them
02:34came in pairs or groups or trios so they've got friends they've got people who wanted to stand
02:40around them Highland Pride's website and email is there to contact if they need further help or
02:50support or or encouraging. In the Highlands there's so many isolated farmsteads out there so many
02:57little communities where we don't know what's going on it's probably fine but it might not be.
03:05When we talk about trans people this is what we need to remember we're talking about people
03:12that's what we read at their names and we're talking about lives. I felt an immense sadness
03:18as I heard the names particularly as the number has gone up since last year. We need to re-humanise
03:25the narrative when we talk about trans people. At the moment it's toxic and we're not talking
03:32about real people so this is what we need to talk about we're talking about human lives
03:38and also we need to remember that whether we're talking about legislation
03:45other matters it's about basically making sure that people can get on with their lives and that
03:50I think has been forgotten. I think politicians just need to sit down over a coffee and talk
03:59to people actually who have been through the experience of gender reassignment or their family
04:06or their friends but it's important that they know they're talking about real people. I'll
04:11just give you one example I've heard people say all sorts of bad things about transgender people
04:18and I say but how about me? Oh that's different Sarah is Sarah so once you bring a real human
04:25being it changes the narrative so I think we just need to re-humanise the way we talk about
04:32people. I won't even say trans people, people, we're talking about human beings.
04:36The transphobia in our society is a pervasive problem and I think it is vital that we as a
04:42community pay respect to all these beautiful and gendered souls who have lost their lives.
04:51I think it is important for us to stand together and support each other so for me
04:59this is a very important day of the year. Trans Day of Remembrance means a lot to me because of
05:05being non-binary. I feel that I fit very much into the category with trans people in the respect that
05:16we all are basically coming under the firing line from people who don't want us to exist
05:25and that's a very hard pill to swallow especially in this day and age. We should have gotten to this
05:33point now in 2024 where things should have progressed a lot more and moved forward a lot
05:39more. When you think about the fact that trans people and non-binary people and LGBTQ people
05:45have been around since way before Roman times and yet still here we are going well you know
05:53we're still not being treated correctly why has it taken this long why are we still fighting this
05:58why you know why are so many people not just getting on board with the the worldwide idea
06:05that everybody regardless of who they are or what they are or what they look like
06:11everybody should be allowed to live as their own person and be accepted for who they are
06:18and we're still not there yet and that's sad you know and I feel sad because I've grown up my whole
06:25life although I've always known I was non-binary and when I was very small being referred to as
06:33a tomboy all of the time that still had its issues you know there was still a lot of people
06:39didn't matter how I presented would still look at me and go you're a girl and I'd go well
06:48I'm not really a girl but I'm not really a boy either I'm kind of I just do my own thing
06:55I am what I am and I'm not going to change that for anybody so it's important to me that
07:01Trans Day of Remembrance is seen and heard because we need to remember the people that have
07:09gone that have left us and whether that's through them taking their own lives or whether that's
07:16through because somebody has done something to them either way that is not a good situation
07:21and we are still in that we're still living that we're still fighting that good fight and trying
07:28to say like we're here we exist. Today reminds me why trans joy is resistance
07:34because there are people that don't want us to feel joy they want us to they want to push us
07:40into the shadows don't want us to show our joy to the world
07:44they want us to be dead they want us to not exist they're frightening us with murder of actual
07:51people obviously trans people actually being murdered it's not just about killing that one
07:58trans person it's about frightening the rest of us back into the closet and by refusing to do that
08:05by coming out and saying no I'm actually happy I am happy as a trans person that's resistance
08:14because that's like saying I will not be carried I will not be frightened into the shadows by you
08:22and your crimes whether these are crimes by individuals or by governments
08:28I will not be carried I am me and I will not I will not step back into that closet