Transgender Day of Remembrance

Gender and Sexuality Programs (GSP) recognizes National Transgender Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19, and Transgender Day of Remembrance, Nov. 20. The latter is an annual observance that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

Message from Tommy Lee, assistant director, gender and sexuality programs
Horrifically, 2021 is now the deadliest year on record for anti-trans murder in the United States. At least 46 trans and non-binary people have been killed so far this year. We say at least because too often these stories go unreported—or misreported. Like in previous years, the majority of these people were Black and Latinx transgender women. These victims, like all of us, are loving partners, parents, family members, friends, and community members. They worked, went to school, and attended houses of worship. They were real people—people who did not deserve to have their lives taken from them.

Poignantly a memorial will be erected in the Farinon atrium, near the fireplace, to allow the Lafayette community to know the stories and faces of our trans and non-binary siblings we lost this year. Visitors to the memorial can read and learn the stories of these beautiful people and the lives lived. The memorial will be up from Tuesday morning through Thursday evening.

On Saturday, GSP encourages those interested to attend and share a memorial service hosted by the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project and the Metropolitan Community Church of the Lehigh Valley. The vigil will be held 4 p.m. Saturday at Payrow Plaza, 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem.

We mourn those we have lost in 2021:

Tyianna Alexander
Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín
Bianca “Muffin” Bankz
Dominique Jackson
Fifty Bandz
Alexus Braxton
Chyna Carrillo
Jeffrey “JJ” Bright
Jasmine Cannady
Jenna Franks
Diamond Kyree Sanders
Rayanna Pardo
Jaida Peterson
Dominique Lucious
Remy Fennell
Tiara Banks
Natalia Smut
Iris Santos
Tiffany Thomas
Keri Washington
Jahaira DeAlto
Whispering Wind Bear Spirit
Sophie Vásquez
Danika “Danny” Henson
Serenity Hollis
Oliver “Ollie” Taylor
Thomas Hardin
Poe Black
EJ Boykin
Aidelen Evans
Taya Ashton
Shai Vanderpump
Tierramarie Lewis
Miss CoCo
Pooh Johnson
Disaya Monaee
Briana Hamilton
Kiér Laprí Kartier
Mel Groves
Royal Poetical Starz
Zoella “Zoey” Rose Martinez
Jo Acker
Jessi Hart
Rikkey Outumuro
Marquiisha Lawrence
Jenny DeLeon