Last week, we observed Trans Awareness Week (13th-19th November), the purpose of which is to increase public knowledge of the challenges faced by the trans community. This week of awareness culminates today in the Transgender Day of Remembrance (20th November), intended to honour the memory of the trans people whose lives have been lost in acts of violence, prejudice, and hatred.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance, celebrated annually in November, dates back to 1999. This was the year that a small grassroots activist group decided to memorialise Rita Hester, a Black trans woman whose murder in Massachusetts in November 1998 followed the previous death of Chanelle Pickett, another transgender woman of colour. Chanelle’s murder took place only a few years prior in the same month and in the same state, which increased the urgency for the community to come together and take a stand.
Therefore, the first Transgender Day of Remembrance (on which a vigil was held in Rita’s memory in in Boston and San Francisco) was an effort to shine a national light on the violence suffered by the transgender community, and to memorialise Rita in a manner which was respectful of her gender identity and lived experiences. This was necessary as it was felt that both the national media and local community in Massachusetts had failed in these respects.
We continue to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance today – and sadly, we do so not only in order to remember those who have lost their lives in the decades past, but also in the face of enduringly high numbers of violent crime endured by the transgender community today. Records indicate that from October 2022 to October 2023, 320 people have been killed because of being transgender – and these are only the crimes that were reported.
You can read more about TDOR and find out how you can help fight this violence on the GLAAD website.
You can find more information from the Methodist Church here, and a personal story from a Methodist minister here.
If you haven’t already, you can also read the prayer we shared during Trans Awareness Week from enfleshed.