My first experience attending a Transgender Day of Remembrance

was in Tucson, Arizona, in 2001. I can still remember the dusky warmth in the air as I gathered quietly with others beneath the deepening desert sky. The vigil was led by the late, great Alexander John Goodrum—a visionary Black trans+ advocate and educator whose gentle authority and fierce compassion set the tone for the whole evening. Even then, it was clear there was something extraordinary about Alexander: the way he spoke each name, honored the complexity of grief, and called us to hold one another in both sorrow and solidarity stayed with me long after the candles burned out.

Alexander soon became a source of courage and wisdom for me—a close friend and mentor whose lessons about tenderness in activism still shape my work to this day. He taught me that justice is not just about demanding change, but also about building loving, sustaining community. Remembrance, as Alexander practiced it, was not merely ritual; it was a living act that called us deeper into connection with both the living and the lost.

Only a year later, we faced the heartbreaking task of reading Alexander’s own name aloud at that same TDOR. He had died by suicide in the fall of 2002 while seeking help at a local mental health facility. His absence left a profound ache in Tucson’s community and among trans+ advocates everywhere. Speaking his name among the others was a reminder of how vulnerable we are, and how essential it is to support one another in grief, in hope, and in solidarity.

Twenty-three years later, I return to TDOR each November holding Alexander’s legacy close—honoring not only those we have lost to violence, but also those taken by despair, and renewing our promise to fight for a safer, more loving world for every trans+ person.

– Michael Woodward

“Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.”

– Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

We have always existed and always will exist. Let our joy and excellence be embraced as we resist the forces against us and deepen our resolve toward liberation.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance on November 20 to memorialize those whose lives were lost in the past year as a result of anti-transgender violence and persecution.

The week preceding TDOR, our community participates in Transgender Awareness Week to highlight trans joy and excellence, and the ongoing issues we face, such as safety, access to care and housing, safe travel, schools, and more.

Get involved

Check your local calendars for events and memorials, and make a plan to join one of the TRACTION-sponsored TDOR events (offered virtually and in person)

• • Nov 13 – Roundtable Meeting Talanoa: Empowering Voices, Shaping Policies for Gender-Affirming Care and Safety for all Trans Lives.

• • Nov 16 – Concert by Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble (STANCE) Live

• • Nov 20 – Concert by Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble (STANCE) Live and Livestreaming

History of Transgender Day of Remembrance

Gwendolyn Ann Smith started Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) in 1999 as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a trans woman killed in 1998. Smith designed the vigil to commemorate all known trans people lost to violence since Rita’s death. This practice of honoring all those lost in the previous year because of violence continues today with the reading of names at annual TDOR events across the country.

“Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.”

– Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

We have always existed and always will exist. Let our joy and excellence be embraced as we resist the forces against us and deepen our resolve toward liberation.