| Transgender Day of Remembrance | |
|---|---|
.jpg) ATransgender Pride flag on theBritish Foreign Office, 2018 | |
| Observed by | Transgender community and supporters |
| Type |
|
| Observances | Typically, a reading of the names of those who died within the past year, and may include other actions, such ascandlelight vigils, dedicated church services, marches, art shows, food drives and film screenings |
| Date | November 20 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| First time | 1999; 26 years ago (1999) |
| Related to | Transgender Awareness Week,International Transgender Day of Visibility |
TheTransgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), also known as theInternational Transgender Day of Remembrance, has been observed annually from its inception on November 20, 1999, tomemorialize those who have beenmurdered as a result oftransphobia.[1][2] The day was founded to draw attention to thecontinued violence directed towardtransgender people.[3]
Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by a small group, includingGwendolyn Ann Smith,[4]Nancy Nangeroni, andJahaira DeAlto,[5] to memorialize the murders of Black transgender womenRita Hester inAllston, Massachusetts,[6] andChanelle Pickett inWatertown, 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 within the past year,[12][13] and may include other actions, such ascandlelight 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 actressCandis Cayne),[15] profiled an event at theNew York City LGBT Community Center, and discussed media coverage of TDoR.
Rita Hester (November 30, 1963 – November 28, 1998) was atransgender African-American woman who was murdered inAllston, Massachusetts, on November 28, 1998.[16] 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 theBoston Herald andBay Windows, was chronicled byNancy Nangeroni.[17] Her death inspired the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR).[18]
Chanelle Pickett (1972–1995) was a Black trans woman who was murdered inWatertown, Massachusetts on November 20, 1995.[7] Her death inspired many actions, including several vigils and the creation of a group dedicated to preventing violence against trans people, called "Remember Chanelle" which was formed on December 18, 1995.[19][20] Similar to Rita Hester's murder, Chanelle Pickett's murder was chronicled by Nancy Nangeroni[7] and also inspired the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR).[8][9][10]
Monique Thomas (March 30, 1963 – September 1998) was a Black trans woman murdered at her home inDorchester, Massachusetts. Her murder was discussed alongside the murders of Rita Hester and Chanelle Pickett in "Remembering Our Dead", a web project[21] that led to the creation of International Transgender Day of Remembrance.[22] Although Monique's death was not mentioned often during the initial creation of the day, she is now frequently mentioned in articles that discuss the ongoing impact and observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance.[23][22]
Scholars and activists committed to advancingintersectional approaches to trans advocacy continue to highlight the importance of seeingtransphobic violence as inherently connected to race, gender, and class. This is reflected in the disproportionate instances of violence against transwomen of color, particularly Black and Latina transgender women.[24][25][26]
TheoristsC. Riley Snorton andJin Haritaworn critique how images and narratives centering on the deaths of trans people of color—most oftentransfeminine bodies of color—are circulated within social movements and spaces headed by white gay and trans activists, such as TDoR.[27] ScholarSarah 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:
Our task then is to push these further—not only with respect to TDOR but also in the many ways we recount and confront violence. None of us are innocent. We must envision practices of remembrance that situate our own positions within structures of power that authorize violence in the first place. Our task is to move from sympathy to responsibility, from complicity to reflexivity, from witnessing to action. It is not enough to simply honor the memory of the dead—we must transform the practices of the living.
— Lamble, 2008: "Retelling Racialized Violence, Remaking White Innocence: The Politics of Interlocking Oppressions in Transgender Day of Remembrance"[28]
Transgender activistMirha-Soleil Ross criticizes TDoR for conflating the motivation behind the murders of transgender womensex workers. In an interview with scholarViviane Namaste, 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.[29]
TheCanadian province ofOntario unanimously passed the Trans Day of Remembrance Act, 2017 on December 12, 2017, officially recognizing TDoR and requiring theLegislative Assembly of Ontario to hold aminute of silence every year on November 20.[30][31]
In 2020,US president-electJoe Biden recognized the Transgender Day of Remembrance and said thetransphobic violence experienced bytrans women is intolerable.[32] In 2021, Biden and Vice PresidentKamala Harris issued a statement saying, "At least 46 transgender Americans were killed by acts of fatal violence to date this year".[33][34][35][36] His office also issued a report outlining "How the Biden-Harris Administration Is Advancing Safety, Opportunity, and Inclusion for Transgender andGender Diverse Individuals."[37] Moreover, Biden called on theSenate to pass theEquality Act.[38]
Antony J. Blinken, United States Secretary of State, also issued a statement mourning the loss of trans lives in 2021.[39] As the chief American diplomat, he stated, "Promoting and protecting the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons is aforeign policy priority of this Administration."
On November 18, 2021, on theHouse floor, RepresentativeAyanna Pressley read the names of 46 trans people murdered that year.[33][40][41] Pressley was joined by other members of theCongressional Equality Caucus that included RepresentativesMarie Newman,David N. Cicilline,Mark Takano,Sara Jacobs, andAl Green.[42]
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.
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