Candles Lit for Victims of Anti-Trans Violence

Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance every Nov. 20 that recognizes the deaths of transgender and gender non-conforming people who are victims of anti-transgender violence. On Nov. 24 at 7 p.m., community members gathered in front of Peabody Hall at UVA to light candles and recite the names of trans and non-conforming people killed in the USA this past year. 

According to the Human Rights Campaign, “At least 22 transgender or gender non-conforming people [were] fatally shot or killed by other violent means. We say at least because too often these stories go unreported — or misreported.”

At the vigil, an intern from the UVA LGBTQ Center started off by addressing how Transgender Day of Remembrance began with Rita Hester, who was murdered on Nov. 28, 1998. Her murder kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. He addressed that most anti-transgender murders in the USA are against women of color, mostly black women.

One of the speakers shared a quote from Muhlaysia Booker who was killed this year, “I’ve been shot at, hit with a gun, jumped, maced, robed, piss thrown at me; long story short, I ain’t afraid of nobody or anything or anybody.”

After the vigil, attendees moved inside to UVA’s LGBTQ Center to talk, drink, and eat. Many knew each other already from other events, but some also made new friends. The last people to leave did so well past 9 p.m.

“2019, gonna be one of my best years yet,” said Claire Legato who was killed this year.

For a full list of transgender and gender non-conforming murders recorded this year, go to tdor.info.

The author of this article identifies as transgender.