Pima County Public Library Shared 'Transgender Day Of Remembrance Is November 20'

Press release from the Pima County Public Library :

November 20, 2020

Every year in November, there is a week of words that leads to a day of memory. Transgender Awareness Week was the past week this year, the 12th through the 19th. A week of speaking up, sharing who we are, that we’re people and we’re not going anywhere.

It’s also a time for bringing awareness to the many issues that we still face as transgender individuals. There are still legal battles fought for rights. Insurance that won’t cover gender dysphoria treatments and hormones, let alone surgery. There continues to be poor treatment of transgender individuals in work and school environments, not to mention home environments—which can range from bullying and dehumanizing behavior to acts of violence.

Every year, at the end of Transgender Awareness Week, there is a day of remembering those who are no longer with us. Those that we lost that year due to violence because of who they were. Those that are gone because they lived their truth. This year, that day is November 20th.

Every year, the Trans Murder Monitoring project tallies names, ages, locations and stories of those who we lost to violence. Every year, that list gets longer. And every year, we know that even with the names we do have, that isn’t all of them. Many names are lost to time due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to; reporting of individuals with their deadnames, their deaths being ruled as not being murders, and those who are never found at all.

(A ‘deadname’ is also known as a transgender person’s ‘birth name’, and if or when they change their name to one that reflects them better their previous name is considered ‘dead’, and is not to be used.)

Worldwide, there were 350 murders reported this year. A majority of those murders were of transgender women, and many were transgender women of color.

This year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, there were 37 deaths this year in the United States and Puerto Rico. Their names are listed below.

Remember them, and mourn them.

And make the world safer for those of us who are still here.

Dustin Parker, 25, in McAlester, Oklahoma. January 1

Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. February 24

Yampi Méndez Arocho, 19, in Moca, Puerto Rico. March 5

Monika Diamond, 34, in Charlotte, North Carolina. March 18

Lexi, 33, in Harlem, New York. March 28

Scott/Scottlynn Devore, 51, in Augusta, Georgia. March 30

Johanna Metzger, in Baltimore, Maryland. April 11

Penélope Díaz Ramírez, 31, in Puerto Rico. April 13

Serena Angelique Velázquez Ramos, 32, in Puerto Rico. April 21

Layla Pelaez Sánchez, 21, in Puerto Rico. April 21

Nina Pop, 28, in Sikeston, Missouri. May 3

Helle Jae O’Regan, 20, in San Antonio, Texas. May 6

Jayne Thompson, 33, in Mesa County, Colorado. May 9

Tony McDade, in Tallahassee, Florida. May 27

Selena Reyes-Hernandez, 37, in Chicago, Illinois. May 31

Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. June 9

Riah Milton, 25, in Liberty Township, Ohio. June 9

Brian “Egypt” Powers, 43, in Akron, Ohio. June 13

Brayla Stone, 17, in Little Rock, Arkansas. June 25

Merci Mack, 22, in Dallas, Texas. June 30

Shaki Peters, 32, in Amite City, Louisiana. July 1

Bree Black, 27, in Pompano Beach, Florida. July 3

Summer Taylor, in Seattle, Washington. July 4

Marilyn Cazares, in Brawley, California. July 16

Dior H Ova, in the Bronx, New York. July 26

Queasha D Hardy, 22, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. July 27

Aja Raquell Rhone-Spears, in Portland, Oregon. July 28

Kee Sam, in Lafeyette, Louisiana. August 12

Lea Rayshon Daye, 28, in Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland, Ohio. August 30

Aerrion Burnett, in Independence, Missouri. September 19

Mia Green, 29, in Philadephia, Pennsylvania. September 28

Michelle Michellyn Ramos Vargas, 30s, in San Germán, Puerto Rico. September 30

Felycya Harris, 33, in Augusta, Georgia. October 6

Brooklyn Deshuna, 20, in Shreveport, Louisiana. October 7

Sara Blackwood, in Indianapolis, Indiana. October 11

Angel Unique, 25, in Memphis, Tennessee. October 25

Yunieski Carey Herrera, 29, in Miami, Florida. November 17

November is Trans Awareness Month

List created by PimaLib_LGBTQ

Trans people have all kinds of stories. While it's important to know the tragedies of life as a trans person, it's also important to know the joys. Want to know more? Read these works of fiction and nonfiction by and about trans people.

Janet Mock's second autobiographical work (After Redefining Realness) explores the time beyond coming-of-age.

View Full List

This press release was produced by the Pima County Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.