The Belmont LGBTQ+ Alliance warmly invites you to attend Belmont's second annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) on Sunday, Nov. 20. Please join our community for a vigil memorializing those transgender individuals who have been murdered this year as a result of transphobia. The vigil will be held on the green space (Town Green) in front of the bank at 2 Leonard Street, beginning at 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, November 16 to Sunday, November 20: Public installation on the Belmont Center Town Green will commemorate each of these individuals.
- Sunday, November 20: Nationwide Day of Trans Remembrance. A vigil with the reading of the names will be held at 6 p.m.
We host TDoR activities to continue efforts locally and nationally to make America truly more inclusive to all – and to help make it safe for our LGBTQ+ community to live their lives in peace. Please see more on TDoR below.
We look forward to seeing you soon, and we thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
The Belmont LGBTQ+ Alliance Leadership Team
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Transgender Day of Remembrance
Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual event held across the country on November 20. Its purpose is to raise awareness about transphobic violence, honor lives lost, and foster allyship.
The number of transgender and gender nonconforming people known to have been killed in transphobic violence has increased every year, from 27 in 2016 to 44 last year. So far this year, that number is at least 43. The majority of these were Black and Latinx transgender women. We do not know exact numbers because police and media often misgender or do not report violent deaths of transgender people.
The emergence of Transgender Day of Remembrance is local and personal. On November 20, 1995, William Palmer brutally murdered Chanelle Pickett in Watertown. Despite strong physical evidence, Palmer was only convicted of assault and battery. On November 28, 1998, Rita Hester was stabbed to death in Allston; no one has been charged for this heinous crime. This year, Jahaira DeAlto was murdered in Boston. Chanelle, Rita, and Jahaira were trans women of color who were beloved in the greater Boston area.
These murders sent a chill through local and national transgender and LGBTQ communities. In response, and to honor transgender lives, transgender activist Gwen Smith created the first Transgender Day of Remembrance in 1999. Transgender people will continue to be harassed, persecuted, and murdered until society moves beyond outdated views of gender identity and recognizes the rights and dignity of the transgender community.