Residents in Pullman and Moscow will hold candlelit vigils today to commemorate the lives of 67 transgender people in the United States who were reported to have been killed or died by suicide since Oct. 2024.
Data on transgender people who were killed came from the Trans Murder Monitoring project, which was first established in 2009.
Those 67 individuals include Onyx Cornish, an 18-year-old who was shot and killed in Caldwell, Idaho, in August. It also includes Portland residents River Trevino, 32, Arty Cassidy, 23, Lillia Holland, 19, and Charlotte Fosgate, 17, all of whom died by suicide.
Transgender people are estimated to be about four times more likely than people who are not transgender to be the victims of a violent crime, and report significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts than the general population.
That increased suicide risk is attributed to stressors that include stigma and discrimination, a lack of access to gender-affirming health care, and higher rates of homelessness, according to the Centre for Suicide Prevention, a Canadian mental health organization.
Cece Cook is an organizer for Pullman’s vigil. He said the past year has been especially difficult for many transgender people.
“I, for one, have had some really dark thought moments over the course of the years,” he said. “It's just really hard to keep your head on straight when you have an entire government saying you don't exist.”
Cook said he worries political attacks will further increase trans people’s risk of suicide and victimization.
For transgender people, he said, it can mean a lot to see support from the community. He recalled one instance where a man at a protest thanked him for a sign that said “trans rights are human rights.”
“He was only visiting WSU 'cause his child was gonna attend school there. And that it was beyond gratifying to see that where his child was gonna be at school was going to be an accepting place,” Cook said. “That's the reason why we do all of these events. People see it and they know they're not alone.”
Pullman’s vigil will be held at 7 p.m. at Cougar Plaza, located downtown at the intersection of North Grand Avenue and northeast Olsen Street.
Moscow’s vigil will be at 7 p.m. in Friendship Square in downtown Moscow, located at the intersection of 4th Street and Main Street.
Cook said attendees are encouraged to bring flowers to honor those who have died.
