CHICAGO (WLS) — It’s Transgender Day of Remembrance and community leaders gathered at City Hall to remember the lives lost and demand more from Chicago.

It is a solemn day to remember the lives lost, but it is also an opportunity to cherish the importance of community.

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“I think of all our trans brothers and sisters who are not with us here today, murdered by hatred, murdered by lack of resources, murdered by lack of support,” said 34th Ward Alderman Carlos Ramirez- Rosa.

On Transgender Day of Remembrance, city leaders and organizations supporting the trans community came together to shine a spotlight on people like Elise Malarya 31-year-old black trans woman went missing in Evanston in 2022. Her body was pulled from Lake Michigan days later.

“We are part of the American dream. We deserve adequate housing. We deserve equal employment opportunity. We deserve the ability to walk the streets safely without experiencing rates of violence,” Precious said Brady-Davis, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. .

According to the annual report produced by Transgender Europe and Central Asia, which tracks reported murders of trans people, 350 trans and gender diverse people have been murdered around the world so far this year. This is an increase of 6 percent from last year.

And 93% of reported murders involved black and brown trans people.

SEE ALSO: What you need to know about Transgender Day and Anti-Trans Violence

“Black trans women, who are the most vulnerable people in our community,” said Alderwoman Rossana Rodriquez-Sanchez.

Vulnerability is a major concern for trans people living in Chicago as the country prepares for a new presidential administration.

“When you don’t have people who don’t believe or, you know, don’t appreciate gender-affirming care, you know that it impacts things like the allocation of funds, what that impacts the care, you know, that we can receive,” said Terra Campbell, with Howard Brown Health.

The group said Wednesday that it is working with the city on new legislation to further protect trans people, such as requiring Chicago police to track crimes against trans people, in particular.

But uncertainty over what legislation may or may not pass in January is why Karari Olvera of the TransLatin@ Coalition is taking her trans daughter to get a name change Wednesday.

“With the current administration coming in, things might become more difficult for her to obtain a passport that adequately or correctly shows her true sex, her true gender marker,” Olvera said.

Olvera, who also identifies as a trans woman, plans to schedule all the surgeries she will need over the course of the year, while trying to encourage her daughter to live her truth.

“We have survived worse and will continue to survive. And as long as we have each other, we will fight for each other,” Olvera said.