It is important for the community to remember our trans sisters and brothers and to amplify their voices with our own. The Day or Remembrance is important to acknowledge, given the violence trans people face merely for being themselves.

About the Day of Remembrance - Transgender.org (Hat tip to Ten Percent)

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.
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I hope to get a guest post up on the issues at some point, as sadly the issue of discrimination and violence towards trans people is not one always one picked up by lesbian and gay people , let alone the left, and yet they were at the forefront of the Stonewall riots. But more of that at a later date.
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Students with lit candles participated in a vigil Thursday night in honor of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The event, hosted by SpeakOut on the HUB lawn, began with more than 10 students lighting candles and reading from placards bearing the images and stories of transgender people or their allies who were killed as a result of their sexual identities.
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I’m told that today is the National Day of Remembrance. Catchy, is it not? A day to remember our dead. Those who have been killed for no other reason than who they are. The list grows every year.
Just a few from this year:

Duanna Johnson

Angie Zapata

Lawrence King

Latiesha Green

Sanesha Stewart

Aimee Wilkcoxson

I have seen an estimation that there have been 25 trans people murdered this year worldwide, and to me this figure seems to be insanely low.
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Note: On November 20 transgender people all over the world remembered the 30 people we lost (and are still losing) due to anti-transgender violence. There were probably far more killed this year that we'll probably never find out their names or the circumstances concerning how they died.

Sokari Ekine and South Africa's Gender DynamiX reminded us that our transgender brothers and sisters on the African continent are still struggling mightily against transphobia.
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Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors and commemorates the deaths of transgendered individuals who were murdered because of intolerance. The event comes a week after Duanna Johnson, a Memphis transgendered woman, was killed. Begun in 1999 to remember the life of Rita Hester, the event has spread across the globe, with memorial services and remembrances scheduled across the globe. Tracee McDaniel, who is organizing the Atlanta vigil, said of the day:

"“It’s always emotional for me, but it’s always good to see we have support. We just need to keep awareness out there that there is discrimination against transgender people and until we get some kind of legal protections, employment protections, we will continue to raise awareness.”
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