The International Transgender Day of Remembrance
November 20 of every year is the Transgender Day of Rememberance (TDoR), a day dedicated to memorializing the transgender lives lost due to transphobia. The day is also meant to highlight the continued violence and aggression toward transgender individuals.
The event is held in November in honor of Rita Helster, an African-American transwoman who was murdered in Allston, MA in November of 1998. After her death, there was an outpouring of grief and support, which spurred the beginning of the “Remembering Our Dead” web project, which went on to create the international Transgender Day of Rememberance.
The typical TDoR includes a reading of the names of people lost throughout the year, and may include others, and other ceremonial actions such as lighting of the candles, film screenings, food drives, and other charitable events.
The TDoR website has a list of guiding principles for honoring the day:
- “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” (Santayana)
- All who die due to anti-transgender violence are to be remembered.
- It is up to us to remember these people, as their killers, law enforcement, and the media often seek to erase their existence.
- Transgender lives are affirmed to have value.
- We can make a difference: by being visible and speaking out about anti-transgender violence, we can effect change.
Colorado Candlelight Vigils
Loveland, Colorado, United States
Transgender Day of Remembrance Candlelight Vigil
Thursday, November 20th, 2014 18:00PM (6:00PM)
Centennial Park, Loveland Co
Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Transgender Day of Remembrance Candlelight Vigil
Thursday, November 20th, 2014 19:00 PM (7:00 PM)
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 730 N. Tejon St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Find more TDoR events here.
