Transgender Awareness Week – November 13 through 19

Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20

Transgender Awareness Week—celebrated annually from November 13 through 19—is a crucial time to uplift the voices and experiences of the transgender and gender non-conforming (transgender/GNC) community through education and action. At the end of the week, we recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) on November 20th. This is a day in which transgender/GNC people and allies across the globe come together to honor the lives lost to anti-transgender violence.

TDOR was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor her memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998.

These efforts are more important than ever. 2020 is the deadliest year on record for transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States, and those murdered are almost all Black and Brown women. Furthermore, as we face an ongoing pandemic, and racially motivated violence across the country, the transgender/GNC community continues to be among those most deeply impacted.

TDOV serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, an action that current media doesn’t usually perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Though the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that transgender people are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives allies a chance to step forward and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

A list of resources for trans employees.

Check out this video from Trans Day of Visibility 2019 of our very own, Jayden Dotson.

Tips for Allies to Transgender People

For more information on the LGBTQ+ and Friends Affinity Group, please check the webpage at www.portlandoregon.gov/deep/lgbtq or contact one of the following leaders of this group:

Caryn Brooks, Caryn.Brooks@portlandoregon.gov, 971-409-7993

Debbie Caselton, Debbie.Caselton@portlandoregon.gov, 503-823-2831

Jayden Dotson, Jayden.Dotson@portlandoregon.gov, 503-865-2480

Sign up to be on the email list for the group at www.portlandoregon.gov/deep/signup.

The LGBTQ+ and Friends Affinity Group is an approved affiliation of the Diverse and Empowered Employees of Portland (DEEP)