Transgender Day of Remembrance- a brief explanation

I’d like to apologize for the obscenely long break in blogging. Initially I just took a short break from writing. And then a short break became a long one. And then… well, anyway, I’m back now. I apologize to those of you who have been reading- and, welcome back! Hopefully from now on, new blog posts will be forthcoming at an almost-regular pace.

I'd like to focus for a time on Transgender Day of Remembrance. TDOR is an action day put on by various GLBT groups to honor and remember gender-variant people who lost their lives to prejudice. The event takes place in November to honor Rita Hester, the victim of the 1998 murder that inspired a web project called “Remembering Our Dead” and, later, candlelight vigils. Rita’s murder was not the first hate crime towards a transgender person by any means, but it did spark change. TDOR events vary group to group, but they always incorporate some way to remember and honor those transgender people who have died as a direct result of transphobia in the last year.

This day is a chance for transfolk and their allies to of course mourn those who have passed on, but also to unite in the face of adversity and celebrate those things that make us unique as well as bring us together. Participants often focus on the hope of the future just as much as the sadness of the past. A slogan I hear frequently at TDOR events is, “pray for the dead- and fight like hell for the living!”

The sad reality is, our transgender friends, lovers, and family members are at risk all over the world because of other people’s prejudices. Transfolk are often denied housing, jobs, and healthcare because their gender expression confuses, upsets, or offends people who do not wish to learn about gender variance and will not accept it into their lives. Less often- but of course more heartbreaking- transfolk suffer violence at the hands of people who do not, or will not, understand them as people too. It is this ultimate manifestation of anti-transgender prejudice that TDOR mourns, protests, and seeks to change.