Trigger Warning: This article discusses death, murder, transphobia, homophobia, and hate crimes.
The above image is of Rita Hester, an African American transwoman from Allston, Massachusetts. Hester was a born performer, showing her talents in dance, music, and drag regularly at venues such as Silhouette Lounge in Boston. She was inspired by Whitney Houston, and often covered her songs at her own gigs. She was known as a people person, and someone everyone in her local LGBTQIA+ communities knew. She was deemed "renowned and infamous" by Reverend Irene Monroe, a popular lesbian preacher from Boston, among being described as "smart, beautiful, bright, and elegant" by others around her.
Rita Hester never lived to see her 35th birthday.
On November 28th, 1998, Rita Hester lost her life due to transphobic violence. Police found her in her apartment after suffering roughly 20 stab wounds inflicted to her chest. She died of cardiac arrest due to the stabbings that evening at the hospital, just two days before her next birthday. Despite the fact that her murder closely followed that of Matthew Shepard, a gay man in Wyoming who was killed in a homophobic attack which reached headlines nation wide, Rita's case never saw attention from the media or public. To this day, her case still remains unresolved.
A candlelight vigil was held in Rita's honor later that week on December 4th. Over 250 people attended the vigil, most of which were also members of the African American and/or transgender communities in the Boston area. The following year, on November 20th, the first ever Transgender Day of Remembrance was held in Boston, as well as many other cities. Today, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, or TDOR, is an annual occurrence to pay respects Rita and to those like her whose lives have since been taken by anti-transgender hate crimes. The week surrounding TDOR is now known as Transgender Awareness Week, with the purpose of raising awareness and bringing light to the issues that affect those in the transgender community.
The official TDOR website says this about why we need the Transgender Day of Remembrance:
" Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender - that is, as a transexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant, - each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people. We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored...
... The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, an action that current media doesn't perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through 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 we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends, and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who've died by anti-transgender violence".
2017 has been the most destructive year thus far for anti-transgender violence resulting in death. In the United States alone, there have been at least 25 recorded murders of transgender people this year. Seven of these happened just between January and February of this year, all of these seven being transwomen of color. Keep in mind, that these are only the ones that have been recorded. Misgendering, lack of reports, requests from the families of victims, and lack of attention from media coverage often leaves many of these victims unknown.
It is also unclear if these numbers include those who identify as nonbinary or elsewhere on the transgender spectrum. It is estimated there could be at least 15 more cases of anti-trans hate crimes resulting in death in the U.S. known by the beginning of 2018. Now more than ever, we need the Transgender Day of Remembrance to bring awareness to the struggles faced by these victims, their families, and everyone who has ever been or will be a victim of anti-trans violence.
