Nick Antonelli, 29, silently marched across UF’s campus Friday to show support for lives lost in the transgender community.
“It’s not just about passing as male or female,” the Gainesville resident said. “It’s about embracing everyone and having compassion for everyone.”
He joined about 15 Gainesville LGBTQ+ members and allies of the community for a Transgender Day of Remembrance march. They held signs with the names of transgender people who have been killed in 2016. They carried blue and pink balloons with “#blacktranslivesmatter” written on them. Eighteen of the 26 signs they held identified murdered black transgender people.
Kayla, who uses they/them pronouns and declined to give their last name, organized the march for UF’s Pride Student Union’s Trans Week.
“Transpeople can’t live their day to day lives without fear, so this is for them,” Kayla said.
As they walked, people stared and read the signs. One man on Turlington Plaza yelled at the group, “You think you can change things by walking together?”
But the group continued. At the end of the march, Kayla said walking in silence and being yelled at made them think about how transgender people walk around scared and in silence every day.
Twi, 26, who uses they/them pronouns and also declined to give their last name, said as a nonbinary member in the community, the silence reminded them of what they face daily.
“People don’t believe that we suffer oppression on a daily basis,” the Santa Fe journalism student said. “This has always been my normal.”
