DES MOINES, Iowa —

The First Unitarian Church of Des Moines marked International Transgender Day of Remembrance with a memorial to honor those who have died or been harmed by violence targeting transgender individuals over the last year.

"When we list their names, when we plant a flag for each one of those people, we are making sure that they are seen, that they're mothers and children who buried them and grieved, you know that they're not alone in that grief, that these were humans," said the Rev. Steve Sieck, the church's minister.

The outdoor memorial features a banner and 354 flags, each representing a person who died. The church says 64 of those flags represent lives lost in the U.S.

Members of the church hope to build spaces where everyone can be safe.

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