Every year, Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) or International Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed on November 20. This day honours the memory of the transgender people who were murdered in activities related to transphobia.
The day is also meant to focus on the persistent struggles transgender people face in their everyday lives, and how others can share their love, support, and hope.
The day was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester, a transgender woman, in Allston, Massachusetts. Hester was murdered on November 28, 1998.
In 2010, the day was observed in more than 185 cities across more than 20 countries.
Transgender Day of Remembrance founder, Gwendolyn Ann Smith, said, “Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.”
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