Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance
Observed byTransgender community and supporters
Type
  • International
  • Cultural
CelebrationsTypically, a TDoR memorial includes a reading of the names of those who died from November 20 of the former year to November 20 of the current year, and may include other actions, such as candlelight vigils, dedicated church services, marches, art shows, food drives and film screenings
DateNovember 20
FrequencyAnnual
First time1999 (1999)
Related toTransgender Awareness Week, International Transgender Day of Visibility

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 to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.[1][2] The day was founded to draw attention to the continued violence directed toward transgender people.[3]

Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by a small group, including Gwendolyn Ann Smith,[4] Nancy Nangeroni, and Jahaira DeAlto,[5] to memorialize the murders of Black transgender women Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts,[6] and Chanelle Pickett in Watertown, Massachusetts.[7][8] After Hester's death in 1998, Smith was surprised to realize that none of her friends remembered Pickett or her murder three years prior, saying "It really surprised me that it had already, in a short period of time, been forgotten, and here we were with another murder at the same site.”[8][9] The first TDoR took place in November 1999 in Boston and San Francisco, as both Hester and Pickett's deaths occurred in November.[8][10] TDoR continued to be observed annually on November 20, the anniversary of Pickett's murder.[8] In 2010, TDoR was observed in over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries.[11]

Typically, a TDoR memorial includes a reading of the names of those who died from October 1 of the former year to September 30th of the current year,[12][13] and may include other actions, such as candlelight vigils, dedicated church services, marches, art shows, food drives, and film screenings.[14] GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has extensively covered TDoR, interviewed numerous transgender advocates (including actress Candis Cayne),[15] profiled an event at the New York City LGBT Community Center, and discussed media coverage of TDoR.

  1. ^ "Trans Day of Remembrance". Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition. 2013. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  2. ^ "Transgender Day of Remembrance". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  3. ^ Millen, Lainey (November 20, 2008). "North Carolinians mark Transgender Remembrance Day". QNotes. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  4. ^ Smith, Gwendolyn Ann (November 20, 2012). "Transgender Day of Remembrance: Why We Remember". HuffPost. Retrieved May 3, 2021. In 1999 a handful of transgender people sought to highlight the need for awareness around anti-transgender violence, which refers to attacks against people who are perceived as transgender – regardless of how one may personally identify. To that end, we held the first Transgender Day of Remembrance event in the Castro district of San Francisco, holding the names of those we'd lost in silent testimony.
  5. ^ Eagle, Amanda Burke, The Berkshire (May 3, 2021). "Jahaira DeAlto, unflinching advocate of marginalized, among victims of Boston slaying". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved February 7, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Jacobs, Ethan (November 15, 2008). "Remembering Rita Hester". EDGE Boston. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  7. ^ Nangeroni, Nancy (May 17, 1997). "The Chanelle Pickett Story by Nancy Nangeroni". GenderTalk & Gender Education & Media, Inc. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Compton, Julie (November 16, 2017). ""We need to keep fighting," Transgender Day of Remembrance founder pleads #TDOR". NBC News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  9. ^ "Remembering Rita Hester, Who Changed What It Means to Remember Trans Lives". Them. March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  10. ^ Sosin, Kate (July 15, 2020). "'Everybody knew Rita': Decades later, still no answers in slaying of Black trans woman". NBC News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  11. ^ St. Pierre, E. (2010). TDoR Events and Locations 2010. Transgenderdor.org.
  12. ^ "St. Louis Observes Transgender Day of Remembrance". Vital Voice. 2012. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
  13. ^ "Transgender deaths commemorated at Brighton vigil". BBC News. November 21, 2010. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  14. ^ Gonzalez, Yvonne (November 18, 2010). "Groups recognize transgender remembrance day". The State Press. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010.
  15. ^ "Exclusive Video: Candis Cayne Discusses Being Out as Transgender in Hollywood". GLAAD. November 20, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2011.

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