Love, solidarity as Bendigo trans community honours those lost too soon

Each pair represented a life lost to anti-trans violence or suicide over one year.

Grey shoes beneath a transgender flag represented the deaths statistics do not recorded in what can be patchy statistics.

Bendigo might generally be a welcoming place but every member of its trans community has stories about discrimination, advocates Teddy Transcendent and Zara Jones said.

Both used speeches at a memorial on Sunday to express solidarity with those experiencing discrimination and to urge LGBTIQ+ allies to speak out against it, when safe to do so.

Zara said people began directing negative attitudes and concerning behaviours towards her when she first came out as transgender three years ago.

She is grateful not to have experienced the violence many trans people face but has felt the emotional toll of discrimination in other ways.

"All feel like thousands of little stab wounds jabbing into my heart and soul," Zara told the gathering.

Both she and Teddy said LGBTIQ+ allies can help trans people by avoiding stigmatising language and dehumanising jokes, attending events to support friends and loved ones, helping workplaces create inclusive policies and calling out violent and negative attitudes.

"Allies have the power to save lives and it can be as simple as respecting a person's chosen name and using correct pronouns," Zara said.