Dozens Gather In Long Beach For Transgender Day Of Remembrance

Nov. 23, 2015 / By

It was an emotional day for Long Beach’s transgender community.

The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach held the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance last Friday evening. Dozens of volunteers read a list of 89 transgender people whose lives were lost to violence the past year, compelling both speakers and audience members to cry tears.

In the video above, organizers and transgender youth express why having a Transgender Day of Remembrance in Long Beach was personal for them.

About 60 persons attended the candlelit vigil, which featured speakers such as First District Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez, transgender media star Jazzmun Nichcala Crayton, and Long Beach boxer Patricio Manuel, one of the few openly transgender professional athletes.

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Michael Lozano

Michael is an editor and multimedia journalist born to Mexican parents who started their own Domestic Violence counseling center in Southeast Los Angeles. His mentorship has provided youth opportunities to share their stories online on NPR, KCET, the Long Beach Post, and other national websites. His articles have been syndicated and translated into multiple languages via New America Media and ImpreMedia, the nation’s largest Spanish-language news publisher. He was a fellow with UCLA's Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, and has recently been a Votebeat Reporter for CalMatters and the Long Beach Post. Michael graduated from CSULB in 2011 with research honors in Sociology and a Journalism minor. Follow his work @chicanochico on Twitter and @thechicanochicoreport on Instagram.