November is Trans Day of Remembrance month. We have a day when we mourn the loss of all the transgender or gender non-conforming people we have lost to murder or suicide.

On Nov. 20, I got to experience my first TDOR walk. We walked from the J.C. Nichols fountain on the Plaza to KCAVP downtown.

On this walk, we held the transgender flag with pride and read of the names of those killed. When we arrived to KCAVP there was a beautiful memorial service set up and a slideshow of all the names of the people we had lost to suicide and murder.

The next day was all about celebration of life.

I had the honor to share my story again at Unity Temple on the Plaza along with many other great speakers. We shared many awesome stories that were very empowering or sad.

There were also awesome performances by Mrs. Gay Pride KC. The whole experience was new for me but it was awesome.

It was so cool to listen to everyone else’s struggles and be in a room with no judgment. The huge eye opener overall was all of the people we had lost this year and transgender people or gender non conforming people still have to be afraid to be themselves which is not okay.

So I encourage you to come to TDOR next year and spread awareness!