Transgender victims of violence memorialized, Democrats say they’ll pass anti-discrimination bill

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call or text 988 to be connected to a crisis counselor free of charge 24/7.

Speaking in the East Wing rotunda of the Capitol Tuesday, Amy Santiago said she had tried to get her teenage child help, but struggled to find a therapist appointment on their health plan in Bradford County.

“Auggie wanted to make changes in the world,” she said. “He made people feel like they belonged. He built people up, always. He’s such a special person.”

But in October, they took their own life, roughly two months before they were scheduled to begin therapy. Their photo was one of dozens placed in the Capitol Tuesday to memorialize the 55 known transgender and gender-diverse people who lost their lives to violence or suicide in America last year. Four of them were in Pennsylvania.

“Auggie was also just beginning to come out as a trans person,” Santiago said. “Online, he had a community of friends and supporters who knew her as Cass. Thank you for loving her. We didn’t get to know her yet.”

Santiago was joined by advocates, officials and lawmakers who gathered in the Capitol Tuesday to honor transgender victims of violence ahead of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is widely recognized on Nov. 20.

According to Ashleigh Strange, the executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ affairs, the number of recorded deaths in America is likely an undercount, as well as the global tally of 297.

“The numbers tell the story of a population in crisis, particularly for trans people of color who are targeted more often,” they said. “As a trans and nonbinary person, I am always sad to be a part of these events, but I’m proud to be a part of this community.”

The event was attended by lawmakers like Reps. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), Tim Briggs (D-Montgomery), and Jessica Benham (D-Allegheny), co-chair of the Pennsylvania LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, spoke.

Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D-Lancaster), Benham’s co-chair, spoke.

“I often say that we as legislators hand off our job to take care of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to a variety of other people and organizations,” he said. 

But he recalled how, in his first year as a lawmaker, six young transgender people died in Lancaster County. 

“It became clear that there are some things that we simply cannot afford to hand off, and that we must take responsibility for as legislators ourselves,” Smith-Wade-El said. “We are here because we are committed to making sure that Pennsylvania as a commonwealth – a place that we call home – is safe, dignified, compassionate and free for all of its residents, particularly for our trans young people.”

In each of the last two legislative sessions, the Democrat-majority House has passed a bill called the Fairness Act, which would update the state Human Rights Act to explicitly provide protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Beth Rementer, a spokesperson for House Democrats, said the bill would be a priority when the new session begins and Democrats have majorities in both the state House and Senate.

Savannah Thorpe Capizzi, a spokesperson for Senate Democrats, said the bill would be prioritized in the upper chamber as well, where Democrats will have a new majority next year.

Asked if Gov. Josh Shapiro would support the bill, a spokesperson pointed to a recent statement where Shapiro said Democrats would soon outline an agenda, which would contain numerous bills that have earned support in the House, but stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.

“As a parent and as a person, I tried to be supportive, but that wasn’t enough. I’m not sure what would have been enough,” Amy Santiago said. “I do know that we as people — everybody — we need community, we need support, we need freedom, we need kindness and we need love.”