Transgender Day Of Rememberance
Special Events are being held in Bristol to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance on Thursday 20th November.
Transgender day of remembrance is held to remember and remember those across the globe who have lost their lives to transphobic hate crime over the last 12 months and to raise awareness of this issue.
A ceremony will be held at 2pm on Thursday November 20th the Trans Flag will be raised above City Hall in Bristol by the Lord Mayor, The Right Honourable Councillor Alastair Watson. This will be a public event, and all are invited. As far as it is known, this is the first time that the City Council has acknowledged the trans citizens of Bristol in a public event.
After the ceremony, people are invited to join Out Stories, the Rainbow Group (from Bristol City Council) and LGBT Bristol for an event at the Pavillion, Harbourside marking Trans Remembrance Day. Cheryl Morgan will kindly lead the event and there will be refreshments and a light buffet.
Ruth Arnold from Bristol Hate Crime Services will be there with information on Hate Crime support, plus Sarah Minter from LGBT Bristol would like to hear from all those who would like to input into research she and Alex are conducting to look at developing a plan to bid for funding to provide better trans support, provision and awareness in Bristol.
The Ceremony of Remembrance is designed to be a private event for trans people, their friends, family and allies.
Bristol University will be having their own Remembrance Ceremony outside of the Victoria Rooms in the Clifton area of the city, starting at 8:15pm. There will be candles lit and the names of those who have been killed at the result of transphobia read out. The gathered will then have a moment of silence. This is open to anyone who wants to come and be respectful.
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), which occurs annually on 20 November each year, is a day to memorialize those who have been killed as a result of transphobia, or the hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming people, and acts to bring attention to the continued violence endured by the transgender community.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1998 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a trans woman who is a graphic designer, columnist, and activist, to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. Since its inception, TDoR has been held annually on 20 November, and has slowly evolved from the web-based project started by Smith into an international day of action. In 2010, TDoR was observed in over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries. The Bristol event is one of many being held across the United Kingdom including Coventry, Edinburgh, Manchester and Bradford.
More information about this topic and events can be found on the TransBristol website.
