Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Creating Community at UW–Madison

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2021 Madison-area observances

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Each November 20th marks the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), when we honor and remember the transgender people who lost their lives to anti-trans violence in the past year. It’s a day of mourning and a call to action to all of us to end transphobia and anti-trans violence, which is under-reported and especially harmful to Black trans women and their communities.

Madison-area TDOR observances

Rally and Vigil for the Trans Day of Remembrance

The 2021 Wisconsin Trans Day of Remembrance is a youth-run, grassroots rally at the Wisconsin State Capitol, with the aim of demanding justice for murdered transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people, creating an equitable Wisconsin, and working to end the epidemic of anti-trans violence.

  • Date: Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021
  • Time: Rally from 3 – 4 p.m., vigil from 4 – 5 p.m.
  • Location: Wisconsin State Capitol, State Street entrance
  • Learn more: https://equityforall.wixsite.com/tdor

Transgender Day of Remembrance Interfaith Service & Vigil

This service centers trans voices, featuring readings, music, and a candlelight vigil for those we’ve lost in the past year.

What is Transgender Day of Remembrance?

Transgender Day of Remembrance is held on November 20th each year to honor the lives lost to anti-transgender violence and discrimination. The first TDOR was observed in 1999 when a group of transgender people gathered to highlight the need for awareness around anti-transgender violence after the murder of Rita Hester, a 34-year-old African American transgender woman who was murdered in her home in 1998. Since then, many have come together on this day to say the names and remember the lives of those who have died in the past year.

In 2021, 375 transgender and gender-nonconforming people were murdered worldwide, 46 were killed in the United States, where more than half have been Black trans women. That’s the highest death count since TDOR organizers began recording the names of victims, but we know that many deaths go unreported. Organizations like GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign warn that the actual number is likely much higher in the U.S., because transgender victims are often misgendered by authorities or their families and therefore are not included in datasets.

Trans activists and allies work to raise awareness of these dangers and galvanize action to end anti-trans violence for the living and the dead. On TDOR, we will mourn the loss of those who passed, and resolve to continue to work to protect the living.

Resources for Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender-Nonconforming People

Please email us if we’re missing important campus or community resources and we’ll add them here.

Resources for Trans Allies