Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20th
November is Trans Awareness Month, and November 20th is the 23rd annual Trans Day of Remembrance. Starting in 1999, and globally recognized starting in 2010, Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR) names and honors the transgender individuals whose lives were lost due to anti-trans violence in the past year.
“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.”
– Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
According to www.tdor.translivesmatter.info, a website that consolidates reports of anti-trans violence from around the world, there have been 66 reported murders of transgender individuals in the United States in 2022. Reciting the names of those we have lost is a core tradition of any TDOR event. Read the 66 names here.
As we mourn the dead, we also need to uplift and fight for those who are still alive. This month, we encourage you to take one more action against the book bannings, anti-transgender policies, anti-transgender laws, and other events that are impacting the lives of transgender youth in Maine. Bring OUT Maine’s training team to your school or organization, donate to our Read the Rainbow fund, share our flyers or brochures, attend a support group for youth, families, or school staff, host a table at your event, or contact us for more ideas of how you can show up for transgender youth in your communities.