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| Transgender Day of Remembrance 2017 Cenotaph Sculpture by Heath Satow |
- The event will take place at Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the vigil commencing at 5 p.m.
"One out of eight transgender people of color face murder in their lifetime, and one out of 12 Caucasian trans people face murder in their lifetime," says Thomi Clinton, Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Transgender Community Coalition in Palm Springs.
- Speakers at this year's event include: the CEO of the Transgender Community Coalition with Gwendolyn Ann Smith, founder of the TDoR, Ian Harvie, Transgender comedian and actor from the award-winning TV series Transparent, Ryan Sallans, Transgender author and advocate and Ashlee Marie Preston, Transgender producer and activist.
This year, Palm Springs' Transgender Community Coalition unveils the first Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Cenotaph Sculpture. The non-profit organization commissioned the life-size sculpture to honor victims of transgender violence.
The statue was inspired after the death of a transgender woman, Yaz'min Sanchez, who was shot and burned behind a garbage bin in Florida. Sanchez' body left a silhouette where her remains were discovered.
The statue was inspired after the death of a transgender woman, Yaz'min Sanchez, who was shot and burned behind a garbage bin in Florida. Sanchez' body left a silhouette where her remains were discovered.
Los Angeles-based metal artist Heath Satow created the breathtaking sculpture, illustrating the life-size figure, made of steel butterflies (symbolizing metamorphosis or transition), lying on their side.
- The sculpture aims to inspire needed conversations aimed at ending discrimination and violence against transgender people in the United States and across the world.
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| Transgender Day of Remembrance - Leaflet |
About Heath Satow:
Heath Satow (b. February 6, 1969) is an American artist who works primarily in fabricated metals. He received national attention for his 9/11 Memorial sculpture of hands – created with 3,000 stainless-steel doves – lifting one of the twisted steel beams from the World Trade Center to the sky.About Transgender Day of Remembrance:
His passion is art that expresses social justice issues and the inequality of the discriminated and oppressed. Inspired by the scale model that Thomi Clinton presented to him, he has created a unique piece of Cenotaph art – an empty tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people – that embodies the murders and injustices faced by the transgender community in hopes of increasing public conversation to support transgender equality.
The piece was inspired by the murder of transgender woman of color Yaz’min Sanchez, who was thrown into a Florida alley and burned to death. The scorched burned marks from her remains inspired a breathtaking sculpture of a person laying in a somber fetal position covered in butterflies.
- Butterflies are the spiritual symbol of transgender people. These butterflies represent the spirits of those we have lost preparing to return to their Creator in the heavens.
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith when she held a vigil for Rita Hester, a transgender woman that was murdered. It has become a global event to address the violence and oppression against this community.
It is a time when the community that supports LGBTQ+ equality comes forward with their direct support to end violence against the transgender, intersex, gender non-conforming and non-binary communities.