The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), also known as the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, has been observed annually (from its inception) on November 20 as a day to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...

. The day was founded to draw attention to the continued violence directed towards

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

people. Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by a small group, including

Gwendolyn Ann Smith Gwendolyn Smith (born 22 July 1967) is a transgender woman from the San Francisco Bay Area who co-founded Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize people who have been killed as a result of transphobia. ''Trans/Active: A Biography of ...

, to memorialize the murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in

Allston, Massachusetts Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part ...

. In 2010, TDoR was observed in over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries. Typically, a TDoR memorial includes a reading of the names of those who died from October 1st of the former year to September 30th of the current year, and may include other actions, such as candlelight vigils, dedicated church services, marches, art shows, food drives and film screenings.

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayal ...

(formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has extensively covered TDoR, interviewed numerous transgender advocates (including actress

Candis Cayne Candis Cayne (born August 29, 1971) is an American actress and performance artist. Cayne performed in New York City nightclubs in drag since the 1990s, and came out as transgender in 1996; Cayne came to national attention in 2007 for portraying ...

), profiled an event at the New York City LGBT Community Center and discussed media coverage of TDoR.

History

Rita Hester (November 30, 1963 – November 28, 1998) was a

African-American woman who was murdered in

Allston Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most pa ...

, Massachusetts, on November 28, 1998. In response to her murder, an outpouring of grief and anger led to a candlelight vigil held the following Friday (December 4) in which about 250 people participated. The community struggle to see Rita's life and identity covered respectfully by local papers, including the Boston Herald and Bay Windows, was chronicled by Nancy Nangeroni. Her death inspired the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR).

Reception

While TDoR is a critical event, scholars and activists committed to advancing

intersectional Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...

approaches to trans politics continue to highlight the importance of seeing

transphobic violence Violence against transgender people includes emotional, physical, sexual, or verbal violence. The term has also been applied to hate speech directed at transgender people and at depictions of transgender people in the media that reinforce negativ ...

as inherently connected to race, gender, and class. This is reflected in the disproportionate instances of violence against trans women of color in general, Black and Latina transgender women in particular. Theorists C. Riley Snorton and Jin Haritaworn critique how images and narratives centering on the deaths of trans people of color—most often

transfeminine A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

bodies of color—are circulated within social movements and spaces headed by white gay and trans activists, such as TDoR. Reflecting on the case of African American trans woman

Tyra Hunter Tyra Hunter (1970 – August 7, 1995) was an African-American transgender woman who died after being injured as a passenger in a car accident. Hunter transitioned at 14 and lived her adult life as a woman. The District of Columbia was foun ...

, Snorton and Haritaworn observe the dangers of positioning trans women and transfeminine bodies of color as legible only in the aftermath of their deaths, and failing to see such violence as effects of both systematic

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

. Resonating alongside (but not limited to) trans activists CeCe McDonald,

Reina Gossett Tourmaline (born 1983; formerly known as Reina Gossett) is an American artist, filmmaker, activist, editor, and writer. She is a transgender woman who identifies as queer. Tourmaline is most notable for her work in transgender activism and econo ...

Sylvia Rivera Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender activism, transgender rights activist September 21, 1995. Accessed July 24, 2015. who was also a noted community worker in LGBT history in New Yor ...

, and

Dean Spade Dean Spade (born 1977) is an American lawyer, writer, trans activist, and associate professor of law at Seattle University School of Law. In 2002, he founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a non-profit law collective in New York City that provide ...

, Snorton and Haritaworn's work advocates for the importance of an intersectional approach to events such as TDoR and

transgender activism The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote the legal status of transgender people and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health ...

in general. Scholar Sarah Lamble argues that TDoR's focus on a collective mourning risks producing the white spectator as innocent of, rather than complicit in, the violence that produces the deaths of trans women of color they are mourning. Lamble states that: Transgender activist

Mirha-Soleil Ross Mirha-Soleil Ross is a transgender videographer, performance artist, sex worker and activist. Her work since the early 1990s in Montreal and Toronto has focused on transsexual rights, access to resources, advocacy for sex workers and animal rights ...

criticizes TDoR for conflating the motivation behind the murders of transgender women

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work i ...

s. In an interview with scholar

Viviane Namaste Viviane K. Namaste is a Canadian feminist professor at Concordia University in Montreal. Her research focuses on sexual health, HIV/AIDS prevention, and sex work. Education and work Namaste received a Bachelors of Arts from Carleton University in ...

, she presents examples of transgender sex workers who were murdered in Toronto for being sex workers and accuses the organizers of TDoR of using these women who died for being sex workers as martyrs of the transgender community.

Recognition by governments

Canada

The

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

unanimously passed the Trans Day of Remembrance Act, 2017 on December 12, 2017, officially recognizing TDoR and requiring the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Member of Provincial ...

to hold a minute of silence every year on November 20.

United States

In 2020, US president-elect Joe Biden recognized the Transgender Day of Remembrance and said the transphobic violence experienced by trans women is intolerable. In 2021, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris issued a statement saying, "At least 46 transgender Americans were killed by acts of fatal violence to date this year". His office also issued a report outlining "How the Biden-Harris Administration Is Advancing Safety, Opportunity, and Inclusion for Transgender and

Gender Diverse Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-b ...

Individuals." Moreover, Biden called on the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

to pass the Equality Act.

Antony J. Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor (United States), depu ...

, United States Secretary of State, also issued a statement mourning the loss of trans lives in 2021. As the chief American diplomat, he stated, "Promoting and protecting the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons is a

foreign policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

priority of this Administration." On November 18, 2021, on the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

floor, Representative

Ayanna Pressley Ayanna Soyini Pressley (born February 3, 1974) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district since 2019. This district includes the northern three quarters of Boston, most of C ...

read the names of 46 trans people murdered that year. Pressley was joined by other members of the

Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus The Congressional Equality Caucus, formerly the Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus, was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus is co-chaired by the United States House of ...

that included Representatives

Marie Newman Marie Newman (née Klassen; born April 13, 1964) is an American politician and marketing consultant who served as the U.S. representative from Illinois's 3rd congressional district from 2021 to 2023. The district encompasses parts of southweste ...

, David N. Cicilline,

Mark Takano Mark Allan Takano ( ; born December 10, 1960) is an American politician and academic who has been the United States representative for California's 41st congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Takano became the first ...

Sara Jacobs Sara Josephine Jacobs (born February 1, 1989) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . Her district includes central and eastern portions of San Diego, as well as eastern suburbs such as El Cajon, La Mesa, Spring Valle ...

, and

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

References

External links

* Smith, Gwendolyn Ann
"Transgender Day of Remembrance: Rita Hester and Beyond"
''Huffington Post'', 2013-11-20.
International Transgender Day of Remembrance
at GLAAD
Transgender Day Of Remembrance – Manchester, UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transgender Day Of Remembrance Violence against LGBT people Civil awareness days Transgender events November observances Recurring events established in 1999 International observances Articles containing video clips LGBT-related observances