Chicago officials and LGBTQ+ community leaders gathered at Center on Cottage Grove, 6323 S. Cottage Grove Ave., to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance and call for continued action to protect the city’s transgender community.
The Nov. 17 press conference, held during Transgender Awareness Week, doubled as a moment of mourning for the lives lost to anti-trans violence and a celebration of resilience and leadership of Chicago’s transgender residents.
Joli Robinson, CEO of Center on Halsted, opened the event by welcoming attendees to the center’s South Side satellite site and emphasizing the urgent purpose of the gathering.
“During this time, we really focus on centering the voices, experience and brilliance of our trans community and our gender non-conforming siblings,” Robinson said. “This is a time to celebrate resilience, affirm those diverse identities and recommit ourselves … to building a world where every trans person is safe, feels valued and is able to thrive.”
Robinson spoke to the power of visibility while recognizing the disproportionate violence faced by Black and Brown trans women.
“We cannot meet this moment with silence,” she said. “We must meet it with action, advocacy and collective care.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson followed, reflecting on Transgender Day of Remembrance’s origins and the sacrifices of those whose lives were cut short. He warned of the national political climate that continues to target trans people and restrict access to civil rights and health care.
“This country is using trans people as a political wedge and criminalizing their lives through scare tactics and harmful language,” Johnson said. “Not only is this dangerous to them, but it is also morally wrong to marginalize this beloved community.”
Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th Ward) echoed that stance, thanking the mayor for “standing strong for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly our trans brothers and sisters.”
He also highlighted the growing representation and influence of trans Chicagoans in civic leadership, uplifting “our two champions in our community”—Equality Illinois CEO Channyn Lynne Parker and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Precious Brady-Davis, who also serves as chief strategy officer at the Center on Halsted.
Parker, who marked her first day leading Equality Illinois at the event, centered the power and permanence of trans visibility.
“It is still a good day to be trans,” she said. “We are still thriving… and we are not going anywhere.”
Brady-Davis closed the program by uplifting the day-to-day community-building work happening at Center on Cottage Grove—from youth programming and support groups to arts and cultural events—and urged Chicago to match remembrance with action.
“The question before us is not how we only remember those we’ve lost, but how we protect those who are still here,” she said. “Trans power is not new. It is enduring … and trans liberation is not an abstract ideal. It is our mandate.”
