Denver students gather for Transgender Day of Visibility
Denver, CO – Students organized by the Denver chapter of Students for a Democratic Society gathered on Auraria campus April 2 to solemnly commemorate Transgender Day Of Visibility. The candlelight event recalled the suffering and lives lost from violence and hatred aimed at the trans community. News publications and watchdog agencies, spurred on by trans activists, have noted a sharp uptick in hate crimes under the Biden administration, with a steady increase each year since the record numbers committed during the 2020 election year.
The Biden administration in non-response has taken a hands-off approach to civil rights enforcement, while touting Biden's generosity for allowing minor paperwork concessions such as an “X” option on U.S. passports and removing segregationist barriers to receipt of a small selection of federal-level benefits, barriers which should have never existed in the first place.
Unfortunately, having an X option on his passport did not save Nex Benedict's life, nor the lives of other murdered trans and nonbinary people, many of whom were African American. Meanwhile Biden sat on his hands while bipartisan, transphobic state officials passed law after law attacking the queer community's right to exist.
Against this backdrop, students and community members gathered to light candles at the Tivoli Commons Stage decorated with trans flags and a large picture of Nex Benedict to express their grief at losses suffered, their pride in the trans community, and their hope for a brighter future.