The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is an annual observance on November 20 of every year that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. I write about this every year, and participate in an observance every November 20 at Circle Sanctuary. This year, because of the pandemic, it will be online.
Every year on Samhain, then again on my birthday in early November, I think about those of us who have been violently murdered. Just because we’re transgender. I’m writing this in advance of the Astrological Samhain. I’ll do a solitary ritual in remembrance then and thank Hekate that I wasn’t one of them.
That’s why the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is so important to me and others like me. To remember until we all are accepted for just being us, human beings. The 20th of November each year is a very solemn reminder of that.
What is the Transgender Day of Remembrance? Quoted from Wikipedia:
“The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester’s death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.”
This year is the 22nd anniversary of TDoR.
“The 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
The data of those lost is collected from the first day of October to the last day of September each year. That way the data is accurate for the vigil on November 20 of each year. I see this data almost every day as one of the admins on the Facebook Group Trans Violence News. I want to publicly thanks the other admins of the group, Anna-Jayne Metcalfe, Mika-Ellen Orzech and Corrine Jutz for their daily reporting of these tragic events worldwide. I’d also like to mention Kelli Anne Busey of planettransgender, for her help in posting a lot of these deaths.
In this reporting period there were 430 reported deaths of transgender people worldwide. Only the deaths that are reported are included. There are many, many more that go unreported each year.
Range October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020
Data is from TransLivesMatter.
Argentina: 14
Australia: 2
Azerbaijan: 1
Bolivia: 1
Brazil: 184
Canada: 2
Columbia: 24
Dominican Republic: 3
Ecuador: 2
El Salvador: 8
Finland: 1
France: 2
Guatemala: 8
Honduras: 6
India: 13
Indonesia: 1
Israel: 1
Italy: 7
Mexico: 56
Nepal: 1
Nicaragua: 1
Pakistan: 9
Paraguay: 1
Peru: 5
Philippines: 2
Puerto Rico: 6
Russia: 3
South Africa: 1
Spain: 3
Sweden: 1
Turkey: 4
United Kingdom: 4
Venezuela: 1
USA Deaths: 51 (This year those who died of Covid-19 have been reported, for the first time ever.)
Corbin Ray Bach 23, suicide in Paducah, Kentucky 6 Oct 2019
Christine Zephier 23, died in Mankato, Minnesota 10 Oct 2019
Daphne Dorman 44, suicide in San Francisco, California 11 Oct 2019
Brianna “BB” Hill 30, shot in Kansas City, Missouri 14 Oct 2019
Nikki Kuhnhausen 17, murdered in Larch Mountain, Oregon 7 Dec 2019
Angel Rose Garcia 21, died in Hyattsville, Maryland 10 Dec 2019
Alice Carter (“Baby Alice”) 35, died in Washington, D.C. 18 Dec 2019
Yahira Nesby 33, shot in Brooklyn, New York 19 Dec 2019
Mia Penny 26, shot in Washington, D.C. 29 Dec 2019
Dustin Parker 25, shot in McAlester, Oklahoma 1 Jan 2020
Emerald Kelliher 31, suicide in Montgomery, Alabama 3 Jan 2020
Alex McCray 22, suicide in St. Louis, Missouri 4 Jan 2020
Camila Maria Concepcion 28, suicide in Los Angeles, California 21 Feb 2020
John Scott aka Devore/Scottlyn aka Kelly Devore 51, murdered in Augusta, Georgia 12 Mar 2020
Monica Diamond 34, shot in Charlotte, North Carolina 18 Mar 2020
Lexi “Ebony” Sutton 33, stabbed in Harlem, New York 28 Mar 2020
Lorena Borjas 59, died of Covid-19 in Queens, New York 30 Mar 2020
Ashley Moore 26, died in Newark, New Jersey 1 Apr 2020
Henrietta Robinson 79, died of Covid-19 in Miami, Florida 3 Apr 2020
Johanna Metzger age unknown, stabbed in Baltimore, Maryland 11 Apr 2020
Nina Pop 28, stabbed in Sikeston, Missouri 3 May 2020
Helle Jae O’Regan 20, stabbed in San Antonio, Texas 6 May 2020
Jayne Thompson 33, shot in Orchard Mesa, Colorado 9 May 2020
Tony McDade 38, shot in Tallahassee, Florida. 27 May 2020
Selena Reves Hernandez 37, shot in Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois 31 May 2020
Name Unknown 16-20, died in Chicago, Illinois 6 Jun 2020
Riah Milton 25, shot in Liberty Township, Cincinnati, Ohio. 9 Jun 2020
Dominique “Remmie” Fells 27, stabbed and dismembered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9 Jun 2020
Brian Powers (“Eagle”) age unknown, shot in Akron, Ohio 13 Jun 2020
Brayla Stone 17, shot in Sherwood, Arkansas 25 Jun 2020
Tatiana Hall 22, murdered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 30 Jun 2020
Mercy Mack 22, shot in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas 30 Jun 2020
Draya McCarty 28, died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana 30 Jun 2020
Shaki Peters 32, shot in Amite City, Louisiana 1 Jul 2020
Bree Black 27, shot in Pompano Beach, Florida. 3 Jul 2020
Summer Taylor 24, run over in Seattle, Washington 4 Jul 2020
Angela Martinez Gomez 42, died of Covid-19 in Santa Monica, California. 6 Jul 2020
Marilyn Monroe Cazares 22, stabbed and burned in Brawley, California 13 Jul 2020
Tiffany Harris (“Dior H Ova”) 32, stabbed in The Bronx, New York 26 Jul 2020
Queasha Hardy 24, shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana 27 Jul 2020
Aja Raquell Rhone-Spears (“Rocky Rhone”) 32, stabbed in Portland, Oregon. 28 Jul 2020
Janelle Ariana Briscoe 23, suicide in Smiths, Alabama 7 Aug 2020
Kee Sam 24, shot in Lafayette, Louisiana 13 Aug 2020
Shelley Lynn Rose 16, suicide in location unknown, USA. 26 Aug 2020
Rukia Isis Bemer 22, suicide in Lakewood, Ohio 30 Aug 2020
Lea Rayshon Dave age unknown, died in custody in Cleveland, Ohio 30 Aug 2020
Elie Che 23, died by drowning in The Bronx, New York. 31 Aug 2020
Isabella Mia Lofton21, cause unknown, in Brooklyn, New York 7 Sept 2020
Gia Valentina Romualdo Rodriquez 46, died of cosmetic filler complications in Miami, Florida 15 Sep 2020
Aerrion Burnett 37, shot in Independence, Missouri 19 sep 2020
Mia Green 29, shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 28 Sep 2020
Please join us in an online remembrance and ceremony hosted by Rev. Selena Fox and transwoman Brianne Ravenwolf, November 20, 2020.
Until next time, sometime in the future!
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