Cathedral of Hope marked Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sunday, Nov. 15, with a ceremony that included laying a rose in a basket for each transgender person murdered in the U.S. this year and a carnation for each transgender suicide.
CoH Senior Pastor Neil Cazares-Thomas welcomed those who attended and offered an apology to members of the trans community who were not fully welcomed to the church in the past. He welcomed those who wished to join to be “full members and become leaders and participate in every part of the church.”
Cammie Perkins, a 16-year-old who was profiled in Dallas Voice earlier this year, told the gathering, “I’m not transgender. I have a transgender condition.”
Moderator Oliver Blumer echoed those words when he introduced himself as “a man of transgender experience.”