Transgender Day of Remembrance

(Posted by Loghann, '10)
This coming Thursday, November the 20th, is the tenth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The Day of Remembrance began in 1999 in reaction to the murder of Rita Hester. It became a day to remember all those slain in the year since the last DoR because of their variant gender identity or gender expression. Traditionally, ceremonies are held across the country on this day in which the names of the deceased are read aloud during a candlelight vigil.

This year's list contains names that may be familiar, such as 15 year old Lawrence King, or 18 year old Angie Zapata. Just last Sunday, November 9th, Duanna Johnson was found murdered in Memphis, TN. As it stands now, 23 names will be read aloud at candlelight vigils across the country next week. These are only the people we know about, with only 12 states including gender identity in their hate crime laws.

This is the second year I've been involved in doing some sort of awareness campaign for the Day of Remembrance. It's easy to become numb to hate crime statistics, to not feel anything when you read a name on a list. But these people were real. They laughed, they cried, they loved. I have no idea what Duanna Johnson was doing last Friday night, but now she's gone. Lawrence King was 15 years old when his 14 year old classmate shot him. My brother is 15 and I can't imagine losing him.

Too see the complete list of people who have been murdered in the past year, check out this website: www.transdgenderdor.org . Tune into this blog throughout the week while we profile the personal stories of a select few.

(all information taken from www.transgenderdor.org)