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Between Two Worlds: Transgender Day of Remembrance

Between Two Worlds: Transgender Day of Remembrance

Last updated on: November 13, 2019 at 3:12 pm by Brianne Raven Wolf

Between Two Worlds: Transgender Day of Remembrance 2019-11-13T15:12:29+00:00 Brianne Raven Wolf

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The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) is an annual observance on November 20th of every year that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. I wrote about some of this in my article here.

Every year on Samhain, then on my birthday in early November, and as Samhain draws to a close, I think about those of us who have been violently murdered. Just because we’re transgender. I’m writing this on November 7th. The astrological Samhain. I’ll do a solitary ritual in remembrance and thank Hekate that I wasn’t one of them.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) was started in 1999. Photo by Namdung9x via Pixabay.

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 21st 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 20th 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 thank admins Anna-Jayne Metcalfe, Mika Ellen Orzech and several others for their daily reporting of these tragic events worldwide.

It is vitally important that those we lose are remembered. Photo by Jarkko Manty via Pixabay.

This reporting period there were 325 reported deaths of transgender people worldwide. Only the deaths that are reported are used. There are many, many more that go unreported each year.

Range October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019

Data is from TransLivesMatter.

Argentina: 10

Australia: 1

Bolivia: 1

Brazil: 138

Chile: 6

Columbia: 13

Dominican Republic: 4

Ecuador: 7

El Salvador: 3

France: 1

Guatemala: 3

Honduras: 7

India: 9

Italy: 2

Malaysia: 2

Mexico: 49

Pakistan: 9

Peru: 4

Philippines: 1

Poland: 1

Portugal: 1

Russia: 3

Spain: 2

Turkey: 5

United Kingdom: 2

Uruguay: 1

Venezuela: 4

USA Deaths: 36

Dymun Dupree was shot in Warner Robins, Georgia 27 Sep 2019

Itali Marlowe 29, was shot in Houston, Texas 20 Sep 2019

Elisha Chanel Stanley (“Elisha Diamond:) 46, died in Pittsburgh, PA. 16 Sep. 2019

Ja’leyah-Jamar was shot in Kansas City, Kansas 13 Sep 2019

Andrew Elijah Martinez 19, died in Pomona, CA. 4 Sep 2019

Bailey Reeves 17, was shot in Baltimore, Maryland 2 Sep 2019

Bee Love Slater 21, was shot and burned in Clewiston, FL 1 Sep 2019

Keyiariah Quick 25, died in North Carolina 10 Aug 2019

Pebbles LaDime Doe 24, was murdered in Allendale County, South Carolina 4 Aug 2019

Jordan Cofer 22, was shot in Dayton, Ohio 4 Aug 2019

Kiki Fantroy 21, was shot in Miami-Dade County, FL 31 July 2019

Tracy Single 22, was murdered in Houston, Texas 30 July 2019

Bubba Walker 54, was murdered in Charlotte, North Carolina 27 July 2019

Denali Berries Stuckey 29, was shot in North Charleston, South Carolina 20 July 2019

Cecelia Cranko 48, died in South Orange, New Jersey 5 July 2019

Brooklyn Lindsey 32, was murdered in Kansas City, MO 25 June 2019

Zoe Spears 23, was shot in Fairmount Heights, Maryland 13 June 2019

Layleen Cubilette Polanco Xtravaganza died in custody in Rikers Island, NY 7 June 2019

Chanel Scurlock 23, was shot in Lumberton, North Carolina 5 June 2019

Austin Smith 19, died in Evansville, Indiana 4 June 2019

Chynal Lindsey 26, was murdered in Dallas, Texas 1 June 2019

Johana Medina Leon (“Joa”) 25, died in El Paso, Texas 1 June 2019

Titi Gulley 31, died in Portland, Oregon 27 May 2019

Paris Cameron 20, was shot in Detroit, Michigan 25 May 2019

Michelle Simone Washington (“Tamika”) 40 was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19 May 2019

Muhlaysia Booker 23, was shot in Dallas, Texas 18 May 2019

Claire Legato 21, was shot in Cleveland, Ohio 14 May 2019

Ashanti Carmon was shot in Fairmont Heights, Maryland 30 March 2019

Jazzaline Ware was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee 25 March 2019

Faye (“Morena Black”) died in Florida 24 Feb 2019

Ellie Marie Washtock 38, was shot in Saint Augustine, Florida 31 Jan 2019

Dana Martin 31, was shot in Montgomery, Alabama 6 Jan 2019

Keanna Mattel (“Kelly Stough”) 35, was shot in Detroit, Michigan 7 Dec 2018

Tydi Dansbury was shot in Baltimore, Maryland 26 Nov 2018

Regina Denise Brown (“Gina”) 53, was murdered in Orangeburg, South Carolina 10 Oct 2018

Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier 31, was stabbed in Chicago, Illinois 3 Oct 2018

The annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is an important tradition. Photo by Myriams-Fotos via Pixabay.

Please join us in this remembrance November 20, 2019 at Circle Sanctuary.

Circle Sanctuary community member, Transgender activist, and Transwoman Brianne Ravenwolf co-facilitates these programs with Senior Minister Selena Fox.

Free & open to the public

Memorial Ceremony & Community Sharing Circle 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Circle Sanctuary Temple at Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve near Barneveld, Wisconsin
Every year on November 20, Circle Sanctuary holds an Interfaith Memorial Ceremony at its Temple as part of its participation in the international Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR).
The Memorial Ceremony, beginning at noon includes the lighting of candles and reading of names.
Please bring a votive candle in votive glass to candle during the ceremony.

Until next time, sometime in the future!

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About Brianne Ravenwolf

Brianne Ravenwolf has identified as a Pagan from a very young age. She is an active member of Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin. She volunteers her time there helping at most Full Moon Rituals, as well as some workshops, Circle events, and Sanctuary work days. At Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) last year, she became the first Pagan Transwoman to have the Senioring Rite of Passage. She follows a Hekatean Witchcraft Spiritual Path. To relax, she likes to walk, camp, and hike as much as possible in very rural areas. Brianne is also an avid reader, especially young adult novels. You can read more about the author here.

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