(From left to right) Jesse Poland, Kylee Collins and Piper Brett.
On Thursday, March 27th, DHS’ PRISM club (the LGBTQ+ alliance club) hosted their fourth annual Trans Day of Visibility at the North Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers. The event was a fun and heartwarming way for trans voices to be heard and supported in the Danvers community.
Many moving speeches were made during the ceremony. Kylee Collins, vice president of PRISM, was the MC for the event, and although Kai Gaff, treasurer of PRISM, couldn’t be there due to illness, their beautiful poem about the trans experience was recited by one of the club advisors, Mr. Will Ford.
The minister of the church, Minister Caro Barschow, delivered the keynote speech, talking about their experience learning that they were non-binary later in life. The president of PRISM, Piper Brett, also spoke about the importance of trans visibility, and the secretary of PRISM, Jesse Poland, gave a meaningful speech on the topic as well. Both club advisors, Ms. Heather Carnevale and Mr. Ford, gave beautiful speeches about helping to protect the validity of their trans students and the importance of being an available and active ally.
One main tradition of this event is the performance of DHS’ social justice singing group, Vocal Alliance. To kick off the occasion, the group sang an emotional rendition of “Rise Up” by Andra Day. To close off the scheduled speeches portion, they sang an energetic and empowering rendition of “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga. The audience was moved by the uplifting arrangements, and all were happy that trans visibility could be highlighted in such a musical way.
At the end of the event, audience members were invited to speak about their own trans experiences to their fellow audience members. Many members of the community, including DHS alumni and Principal DiMauro, offered their sentiments and reflections about the event itself, and ways to support trans and non-binary students and adults.
It’s especially important during these times for trans voices and support to be heard and welcome, and the Trans Day of Visibility was a great way for this to happen.