The Oakland City Council on Tuesday introduced a resolution declaring Wednesday as Transgender Remembrance Day.
The resolution, introduced by city councilwomen Rebecca Kaplan and Lynette Gibson McElhaney, comes after "agender" teen Sasha Fleischman was asleep on an AC Transit bus on Nov. 4 when another bus rider lit the skirt the 18-year-old was wearing on fire.
Fleischman was transported to St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco for treatment of second- and third-degree burns.
Fleischman is a high school senior at Maybeck High School in Berkeley and many classmates wore skirts in solidarity days after the incident to support the teen.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has charged Richard Thomas, 16, as an adult for the crime.
An online fundraiser to pay for Fleischman's medical expenses has raised over $27,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
The day of remembrance has been planned prior to the Nov. 4 incident to call attention to violence against the transgender community.
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Transgender days of remembrance to honor victims of violence have been held worldwide every Nov. 20 since 1998, when the day was founded to remember the murder of a transgender woman in Alston, Mass.
In a statement, Kaplan said, "There are no words that could adequately convey the tragedy and brutality of attacks against members of the LGBTQ community -- in Oakland and everywhere."
The resolution encourages the City Council and residents to wear skirts on Wednesday in honor of Fleischman.
The city has also scheduled a day of remembrance ceremony on Wednesday evening with remarks by Mayor Jean Quan and names of transgender victims in the city who have passed away will be read aloud.
The ceremony, organized through the Tri-City Health Center, is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Wednesday at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.
