November 20th is a day to both remember and honour trans individuals who have died unjustly due to transphobic violence as well as recognize the strength and resilience of the trans community and trans individuals despite facing daily systematic adversity and discrimination. The Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) started in 1999 with a vigil organized to remember Rita Hester, who was killed due to gender based violence in 1998. The vigil honoured Rita but recognized that her death was not exceptional. Tragically, hundreds of people are killed each year around the globe because of their trans identity. While November 20th began as a day to remember trans individuals who are no longer with us, it has grown to also include a celebration of the resiliency of the trans community.
Events, such as vigils, marches, discussion forums, performances and more, are held on November 20th each year around the world. Join a virtual event to commemorate those lost:
Find more events and actions for November 20th and throughout the year at https://tdor.co/events/
As of 2018, roughly 75,000 people living in Canada identified as being transgender or non-binary (StatsCanada, 2021). The 2015 US Transgender Survey found significant evidence of the systematic discrimination faced by the transgender population, including physical harassment and violence; housing, employment and medical discrimination; and other economic hardships.
Additionally, the survey found that even greater rates of discrimination can be noticed when also taking race, legal immigration status and disability into account (2015 US Transgender Survey, 2016).
These are some commonly accepted terms and definitions. But please note that the trans and gender divergent communities are incredibly diverse and some people may have different definitions or identities, which are also valid.
Some people like to stick to one set of pronouns, others use multiple pronouns and some people don’t use pronouns. You can’t know someone’s pronouns by looking at them, so ask when you meet them.