The Transgender Health and Wellness Center held events in Riverside, Victorville, and Palm Springs. Thomi Clinton is the CEO of the center and said the day is about bringing public awareness to violence against the Transgender community.
“With the new current legislation going on in the nation, violence and murder rate of transgender people has increased exponentially just because of the hostile environment,” said Clinton.
During the ceremonies, all the names of those killed in the past year were read. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 47 transgender or gender non-conforming individuals have been killed this year, already surpassing their 2020 reported total of 44.
Clinton also spoke more on transgender issues as a whole. She said, “We need to find peaceful solutions with one another, we don’t have to accept each other’s ways, but we can respect one another and find peaceful solutions to coexist.”
The Transgender Health and Wellness Center has four locations and offers many services, including job preparation, which Clinton says is a significant issue for those in the community. “They want to work, they want to give back to the community, they want to live authentically like anybody else, but because of what they are, a lot of people won’t hire them,” Clinton added that most transgender individuals are hard workers and just need a chance.
