The First Tree of our Forest Garden - in Memory of Trans Lives Lost

November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance, and we came together to plant the first tree of our forest garden, in honour of lives lost to us. It was moving to see that through word of mouth we managed to reach beyond our membership and were able to share this experience in community with others.

This day is about finding a moment of stillness to remember the transgender and non-binary lives taken by violence or lost to us through suicide or overdose. Whether you are remembering friends or family members, someone you care deeply about; or whether you are remembering the names seen in too many headlines, those people who may be strangers, but are still our trans siblings.

Within the trans community, every loss of life hurts us. And scares us.

But the tree that we planted is also our promise – to keep tending to a future that is rooted in dignity, safety, and belonging. It is easy to lose sight of hope, especially with trans rights under attack. But we have our community, we are connected, we can make change happen – even if its small. We exist. And our allies exist.

This growing space has the potential to become something special for Room to Be, a place where we know the memory of those lost is held with care. And a place where perhaps we can even dare to be more hopeful -  where something sad might feel as though its taking root right now but can still flourish into something beautiful.