Every year, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is held on November 20th to memorialize those who have been murdered due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender, each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people. Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender woman, to memorialize the 1998 murder of transgender woman, Rita Hester, in Allston, Massachusetts. The vigil creates space to honor, celebrate, and say the names of transgender and gender-variant individuals whose lives have been lost to violence.
According to the 2015 U.S Transgender Survey, nearly half (46%) of respondents were verbally harassed in the past year because of being transgender. Almost one in ten (9%) respondents had been physically attacked in the past year because of being transgender. Nearly half (47%) were sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime, and in the past year, one in ten were sexually assaulted. In communities of color, these numbers are higher – 53% of Black respondents were sexually assaulted in their lifetime, and 13% were sexually assaulted in the last year. More than half (54%) of all respondents experienced some form of intimate partner violence, including acts involving coercive control and physical harm.
180 Turning Lives Around stands with transgender and gender-variant individuals. No one should be denied the basic rights that enable their safety and security, regardless of their orientation and identity. No one should ever be subjected to violence simply because of their gender identity or expression. No one should consider taking their own life to escape, fear, loneliness, harassment, and bullying. As of November 5, 2019, there are twenty-one individuals known to have been killed due to violence. Today, 180 remembers our departed friends, loved ones, and community members.
180 is committed to ensuring that all LGBTQI+ survivors of Intimate Partner Violence have access to immediate and long-term support in a safe, confidential, and empowering environment. Our LGBTQI+ Outreach and Advocacy Coordinator educates staff and volunteers, and also law enforcement, professionals, and organizations on relevant issues within the LBGTQI+ community. 180 engages in on-going dialogue with LGBTQI+ leaders on both the state and local level. 180 provides free supportive services including confidential 24/7 hotlines, trained advocates who assist victims by providing emotional support, resources, and accompaniment during hospital forensic examinations and police procedures, court liaisons who help victims through the restraining order process at State Superior Court, individual and group supportive counseling, and a safe house that provides emergency shelter for individuals and their children. We have a satellite counseling office conveniently located in Long Branch, NJ. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, please call our 24/7 confidential hotline at 732-264-4111 or 1-888-863-9262, or visit www.180nj.org
