Over the weekend, Nov. 20th was Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR). This day is to honor, celebrate, and remember the lives of Transgender and Gender Diverse individuals whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. It is also a day of mourning and a call to action to all of us to end transphobia and anti-transgender violence, which goes significantly under-reported.
Transgender Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. This vigil honors and continues to commemorate all transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester’s death and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. As an association and as individuals, we can make a difference by being visible, speaking out, educating, and organizing around anti-transgender violence.
“Like racism and all forms of prejudice, bigotry against transgender people is a deadly carcinogen. We are pitted against each other in order to keep us from seeing each other as allies. Genuine bonds of solidarity can be forged between people who respect each other’s differences and are willing to fight their enemy together. We are the class that does the work of the world and can revolutionize it. We can win true liberation.” – Leslie Feinberg
To learn more about TDOR, visit the resources below:
GLADD: https://www.glaad.org/tdor
Human Rights Campaign: https://www.hrc.org/events/transgender-day-of-remembrance
PFLAG: https://pflag.org/blog/transgender-day-remembrance-2021
Side with Love: sidewithlove.org/tdor
