By Angel Bernardino
Trans Advocate and Student Services Specialist
LGBTQIA Resource Center
Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was established in 1999 and is observed annually on November 20 to honor those we’ve lost due to anti-trans violence.
Transphobia is something that every transgender person faces in their lifetime, and too many lives are taken too early because of it. The LGBTQIA Resource Center is committed to fighting against transphobia on campus through programming, various resources, case management, and peer support. The center also offers free counseling through our Community Advising Network Counselor Mary Schellentrager who is experienced in working with the transgender community. As we work to dismantle systems that keep transgender folks oppressed we must emphasize the importance of finding community.
This year the LGBTQIA Resource Center invites the campus community to join us at our Trans Day of Remembrance Vigil on November 20 from 12-1 p.m.
We are also hosting a Trans Advocacy Network Reception and a speaking event titled From Marginalization to Liberation: A Conversation with Angelica Ross on November 17. Angelica Ross is an avid transgender advocate who starred on the hit FX show Pose as Candy, a young trans woman in New York’s ballroom scene who was attacked and murdered by one of her clients. That is unfortunately the reality that many trans people, especially Black and indigenous people of color, face.
The Human Rights Campaign has tracked incidents of fatal anti-transgender violence since 2013. If you would like to learn about the transgender individuals who we’ve lost just this year, the Human Rights Campaign is a useful resource to check out.
