The 25th annual observance was meant "not only to celebrate the lives that have been taken from us, but also to celebrate those that are with us," said Chastity Bowick, lead organizer of the event.
The ceremony began in 1999 in Boston and San Francisco and has grown into a national event, with the official Day of Remembrance set for Wednesday. The observance began after the 1998 death of 34-year-old Rita Hester, who was murdered inside her Allston apartment. Her killer has never been found, and police released a new request for tips in the case last year on the 25th anniversary of her death.
The recent election of Trump to a second term in the White House hung heavy over the ceremony, as the former president made anti-transgender themes a central part of his campaign. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who was in attendance with US Representantive Ayanna Pressley, said they will fight to ensure everyone is welcome in Boston.
"I'm going to say that again so D.C., Mar-a-Lago, and everyone hears me: To make Boston a home for everyone," Wu said to loud applause from the crowd, as she referenced Trump's Florida residence.
"We have been doing everything in our power to be a place where people like Rita get to live full, healthy, joyful lives," she said. "That's not just taking steps to prevent transphobic violence, but actively curating more trans joy, celebrating more trans victories, empowering this community to lead and live and shine."
The evening also included an appearance by the legendary trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, who received standing applause from the audience as she appeared in the church.
"I've been fighting ever since I saw this [expletive] and I'm going to keep on fighting until this [expletive] has ended," she said.
Amid renewed attacks on the community by far-right groups and Republicans, organizers of Boston's events have expanded from one day to three and added new programming for this year's observance.
The events began Friday at The Pryde LGBTQ+ senior housing facility in Hyde Park, where a documentary film was screened, followed by a "house ball," a celebration of fashion and pageantry that grew out of Black and Latino trans and drag culture in New York, and an after-party at Legacy Nightclub.
On Sunday, there will be an 11 a.m. brunch at The Pryde, where the commissary will be named for Rita in an afternoon ceremony.
As people filed into the church on Saturday, Leah, 33, of Somerville, took a seat and sat in quiet reflection.
"I think it's important to sit with the dead and to carry them with us," said Leah, who declined to share their last name out of concern for repercussions at work.
"It's just such a loss when we don't remember them, and especially since they died needlessly, to carry them with us and put that love into action, that's the best way to honor them," Leah said.
Leah said they were also thinking about members of the community who took their own lives following the presidential election. Transgender youth in the United States reportedly flooded crisis hotlines in the days after Trump's re-election, as the former president made anti-transgender themes a central part of his campaign and left many teenagers worried about how their lives could change once he takes office.