Each year, on November 20, we honor our trans siblings who have lost their lives due to unjust violence.
Transgender Day of Remembrance marks the end of Transgender Awareness Week.
TDOR began in 1999, following the murder of Rita Hester, a Black trans woman. Hester was 34 years old when she was attacked in her own Boston apartment and stabbed around 20 times in 1998. Although a neighbor called the police, more than an hour passed before paramedics transported her to the hospital, where she ultimately passed due to cardiac arrest.
To this day, Hester’s murder has not been solved. Despite a renewed effort from Boston police to solve the case 26 years later, her family is still without answers.
Hester’s murder represents a disproportional rate of violence that surrounds trans people, specifically Black trans women.
The Williams Institute at UCLA Law reports transgender people are four times more likely than cisgender people to face violence, including assault and rape.
At least 36 transgender and gender-expansive individuals have died from violence in the 12 months since the last Transgender Day of Remembrance, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s annual report. This is an increase from last year, when the HRC estimated 33 transgender folx died to due violence.
Black transgender women faced the majority of violence, making up over half of the 36 victims of fatal transphobic violence.
Since 2013, the HRC reports a total of 372 transgender and gender-expansive people have lost their lives. 84% have been people of color; 83% were transgender women; 61% were Black trans women.
This year, we are remembering and honoring 21-year-old Amiri Reid, 21-year-old Kejuan Richardson, 26-year-old Jean Butchart, 38-year-old Savannah Ryan Williams, 57-year-old Meghan Riley Lewis, 40-year-old Amber Minor, 43-year-old Kitty Monroe, 35-year-old Righteous TK “Chevy” Hill, 26-year-old Diamond Brigman, 21-year-old Alex Taylor Franco, 24-year-old Meraxes Medina, 25-year-old África Parrilla García, 36-year-old Tee “Lagend Billions” Arnold, 17-year-old River Nevaeh Goddard, 37-year-old Andrea Doria Dos Passos, 36-year-old Sasha Williams, 28-year-old Starr Brown, 46-year-old Kita Bee, 54-year-old Reyna Hernandez, 17-year-old Tayy Dior Thomas, 25-year-old Michelle Henry, 45-year-old Yella (Robert) Clark Jr., 18-year-old Jazlynn Johnson, 35-year-old Liara Tsai, 14-year-old Pauly Likens, 30-year-old Shannon Boswell, 23-year-old Kenji Spurgeon, 49-year-old Monique Brooks, 20-year-old Dylan Gurley, 24-year-old Tai’Vion Lathan, 34-year-old Vanity Williams, 25-year-old Reed “Barbie,” 29-year-old Kassim Omar, 37-year-old Honee Daniels, 48-year-old Santonio “San” Coleman, and 26-year-old Quanesha “Cocoa” Shantel.
