Walls covered with pictures of those murdered due to transgender prejudice surrounded about 15 students last week in Bessey Hall as they discussed violence against the transgender community.

The discussion was in honor of the 6th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Saturday.

The day people in 1999 with a candlelight vigil in San Francisco to acknowledge the still unsolved murder of Rita Hester.

The vigil prompted the "Remembering Our Dead" Web project, a place where individuals can discuss the violence problem and post information about transgender people who have been killed.

T.J. Jourian, a student affairs administration graduate student, said the photos on the walls were there to help personalize the issue.

"People just can't look at a face and forget it, or even a lack of a face and forget that that face is no longer here," he said.

Four transgender students sat in the middle of the room and allies sat in a larger circle around them. The inner circle students took turns describing the way specific transgender individuals have been killed, many of whom were teenagers.

The cases included students who were strangled, stabbed, shot, drowned, and in some cases, set on fire. In many, a combination of several methods were described.

Violence and murder prevention is the number one issue for the transgender community.

"It wasn't just a matter of, 'We're going to kill you,'" Jourian said. "It was, 'We're going to destroy you, we're going to destroy your body, we're going to destroy your head, we're going to burn you up. We're going to assure you don't exist any more.'"

The students highlighted that the violence affects more than just the transgender community. Psychology sophomore Cameron Venier spoke about the death of a man who was killed while helping an elderly man across the street while holding his wife's purse.

The students also voiced frustration with both police and doctors because they said transgender people often are discriminated against and not given proper care.

Venier said it is particularly hard to get proper counseling because counselors often do not understand transgender issues and would rather medicate than discuss.

"Sometimes, all I need is someone to talk to," he said.

Allies at the event spoke about how they want to support their transgender friends.

"It makes me want to take them and lock them in a glass bubble and protect them from all the people in the world," said biological science freshman Natasha Smith through tears. "I don't understand why people can't see that beauty lies within every single person."