I recently attended a PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) meeting where I took part in a ceremony for the Transgender Day of Remembrance, observed Nov. 20. I cannot begin to express the depth of emotion I felt as we moved around the room, each of us reading names from a list — three or four pages long — of transgender people who have lost their lives.

We read their names, the dates of their deaths, where they were from, and — most devastating of all — their ages and how they died. Some were as young as 15; others were in their 50s or 60s. The causes of death ranged from suicide to being shot, beaten or run over.

It is shocking. And it raises a painful question: What is wrong with our society that we are not outraged by these realities?

At the Nov. 20 West­moreland County Commissioners meeting, a citizen asked why the commissioners refused to issue a proclamation recognizing the Transgender Day of Remembrance. We are now waiting for their answer.

Eddy Confer

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