Tag: TDOR

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Transgender Day Of Remembrance 2020

Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed every year on November 20

Today we observe Transgender Day of Remembrance, which began in 1999 as a way to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman murdered inside her Boston apartment in 1998. A vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester’s death and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. Observed every November 20, the day is meant to honor the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

(graphic via NBC Out)
The Human Rights Campaign reports that in 2020, at least 37 transgender and gender non-conforming people were victims of violent homicides — more than the HRC has recorded in any other year. Last year, the American Medical Association categorized these losses as an “epidemic” – and it is one that has only continued to spread. While each case is unique in its circumstances, what is clear is the epidemic disproportionately impacts Black transgender women, who comprise 66% of all victims of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people. President-elect Joe Biden issued a statement today recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance, which reads, in part, “2020 has been a year of tremendous suffering and loss” for the transgender community. Biden describes the rising death toll of transgender and gender-nonconforming people “intolerable.” “Transgender rights are human rights,” affirms Biden. “To transgender and gender-nonconforming people across America and around the world: from the moment I am sworn in as president of the United States, know that my administration will see you, listen to you, and fight for not only your safety but also the dignity and justice you have been denied.”

Honoring the Transgender Day of Remembrance, NMAC (formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council) has released a powerful tribute – “But…I Survived” – directed and choreographed by John Alix and dedicated to transgender women of color. Peppermint, Mila Jam, and Deja “The Lady Deja Davenport” Smith are featured in the new video set to Sia’s song “Alive.”

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Today Is Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20th marks the annual worldwide observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a memorial to the many people lost to anti-transgender violence.

This is a day to pause and remember lives lost this year due to anti-transgender violence.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the first TDOR, held in remembrance of Rita Hester, a trans woman of color whose life was cut tragically short in 1999.

ThinkProgress offers these five fast facts about what transgender people experience in society:

• There were 226 transgender people murdered in the past year worldwide, but those are only the known reported incidents.

• In 2013, 72 percent of all anti-LGBTQ homicide victims were transgender women; 67 percent were specifically transgender women of color.

• 41 percent of transgender people have attempted suicide, compared to 4.6 percent of the general population, and studies suggest that rampant discrimination is responsible for the disparity.

• 55 percent of students have experienced verbal harassment in school because of their gender expression; 23 percent have experienced physical harassment.

• Transgender people are twice as likely to be currently homeless, twice as likely to be unemployed, and four times as likely to be living in poverty.

I realize that the idea and understanding of transgender people is new to many, as the media is just now giving attention to trans folks. At the end of the day, what’s important to stress is that TDOR is about expressing all of who we are without apology.