Trans Day of Remembrance

Bridges4Life is honored to have our 6th Annual Trans Day of Remembrance Worship & Ceremony here at St. Mark’s on Saturday November 23rd, in conjunction with our ongoing art installation “Celebration is Liberation”.

“Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by a small group, including Gwendolyn Ann Smith,Nancy Nangeroni, and Jahaira DeAlto, to memorialize the murders of Black transgender women Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts, and Chanelle Pickett in Watertown, Massachusetts. After Hester’s death in 1998, Smith was surprised to realize that none of her friends remembered Pickett or her murder three years prior, saying “It really surprised me that it had already, in a short period of time, been forgotten, and here we were with another murder at the same site.”

The first TDoR took place in November 1999 in Boston and San Francisco, as both Hester and Pickett’s deaths occurred in November. TDoR continued to be observed annually on November 20, the anniversary of Pickett’s murder.” (Wikipedia)

It is extremely important to give trans individuals, especially black trans women, their flowers while they are still alive. We aim to do this every year by honoring trans individuals the “Tahtianna Fermin Life Expectancy Award” for their work and perseverance surviving past the life expectancy rate of trans folks, which has unfortunately decreased from 35 to 29 in recent years.

In conjunction with our art installation “Celebration is Liberation”, our goal is to highlight queer and trans artists through the lens of the original eight colors of the pride flag created by activist Gilbert Baker. In doing this, we are not only mourning the loss of those who didn’t make it through this year, but celebrating those that have and continue to create.

This will all take place from 4pm-10pm, Saturday, November 23rd with light refreshments served.