Transgender Day of Remembrance – Tuesday 20 November – #TransAwarenessWeek

Announcement graphic reading: "TDoR - Transgender Day of Remembrance. RAISING THE TRANSGENDER FLAG, 1:45pm, Tuesday 20th November. Assemble under the flagpole next to the Council's Car Park." This announcement text overlaids a photograph of a raised transgender flag at the Civic Centre, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.

Raising the transgender flag at the Civic Centre, Southend Borough Council. [Image Source]
This year Southend UNISONTranspire and Southend Borough Council will be raising the transgender flag to remember and honour transgender people around the world whose lives have been lost to anti-transgender violence.

We will be raising the transgender flag at 1:45pm on Tuesday 20th November. Please support by assembling under the flagpole next to the Council’s Car Park.

Also beforehand, visit the Southend UNISON stall in the SBC Civic Centre foyer from 12:00am for advise, support and a chat.

Everyone welcome, we look forward to seeing you there!

Image banner of Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is an annual observance on November 20th that honours the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

TDOR was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honour the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence that year and began an important memorial that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

“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