GREENFIELD — As part of an internationally recognized day to remember transgender and gender-diverse people whose lives ended as a result of hate crimes or suicides, Community Action Pioneer Valley welcomed the community to a Transgender Day of Remembrance at All Souls Church on Wednesday.

Attendees began the evening with a candlelight vigil, with youth leaders of Community Action’s GenQ social support group reading the names of transgender and gender-diverse people who’ve died, either by suicide or murder due to their identities, since November 2023. Those who were named included transgender children as young as 14 and people as old as 86.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on Nov. 20, was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith, who held a vigil in 1999 to remember Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998 in the Boston neighborhood of Allston.

The roughly 20 attendees of the Greenfield vigil each received two or more names of transgender people from across the United States and read them aloud.

“During the vigil, I think there was a deeper level of sorrow as we’re hearing names and ages that are 14, 15, 16 and losses as close as Massachusetts,” Koree Lionheart of Community Action said in an interview.

In 2024 alone, there have been a reported 30 transgender and gender-diverse deaths caused by violence in the United States, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Seventy-seven percent of the victims were people of color, with 53% being Black transgender women. Sixty percent were killed with a gun and 39% of people knew their killer.

Lionheart said the sorrow of the evening was “sharp,” particularly given the backdrop of the recent presidential election and concerns for the future. Local LGBTQ groups have been hosting support sessions to help foster community amid rising fears that a second Trump administration could rollback the progress made on rights and legal protections for LGBTQ people.

Although a time for mourning was part of the gathering, it was only a portion of an evening that Lionheart said was joyful and connected.

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“There’s a lot of fear right now in the trans community, and last night was an opportunity for both mourning and joy, and radical resistance through connection and community building. I feel really honored to be a part of it,” Lionheart said on Thursday.

As the evening progressed, Lionheart said people were reconnecting with each other, and there were plans made to continue community-building efforts. Lionheart noted the unique element of having generations of people at the event, ranging from children as young as 8 to adults ages 60 and older. Noting the difficulty of connecting LGBTQ people across generations, Lionheart said they feel thankful that there are opportunities in Franklin County to foster intergenerational connections for LGBTQ residents.

“There are a lot of people who should be at the table who aren’t because of the AIDS epidemic, and so we have to work a lot harder to form community when so much of our community has been taken from us,” Lionheart explained. “I feel really grateful that there’s so much effort in Franklin County to find that community together.”

GenQ is available for LGBTQ youth and young adults who are seeking a support group. For more information, email GenQ@communityaction.us.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.