What is Trans Day of Remembrance?

The first Trans Day of Remembrance was held on November 20, 1999, following the murder of Rita Hester, a 34-year-old Black trans woman from Boston.

Hester’s friends and family were deeply unsatisfied with the media’s coverage of her murder—which, based on the police report, misgendered and deadnamed her. In response, trans activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith held the first Trans Day of Remembrance in Boston and San Francisco on the first anniversary of Hester’s murder. 

Now, Nov. 20 serves as a day to remember the lives lost to transphobic violence. It’s also a reminder that trans and gender nonconforming people are still being murdered at higher rates than the U.S. national average, with the majority of victims being Black trans women.

The Human Rights Campaign reported that of the at least 32 trans and gender nonconforming people who lost their lives to violence in 2024, 78 percent were people of colour and 56 percent were Black trans women. And 38 percent of those victims were misgendered or deadnamed by the police or media—just like Hester was in 1998.