Healthwatch Kingston marks Transgender Day of Remembrance

Blog - 20 November 2025

Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual vigil to mark the lives lost to anti-transgender violence.
A photo of a candle

Transgender Day of Remembrance is an international vigil held on the 20th November every year. It is a day to grieve and honour the lives lost to anti-transgender hatred and violence. 

Today we remember those who's lives have been cut short and recognise the grief and loss their loved ones, families and communities feel. 

Transgender Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Healthwatch Kingston is a trans and non-binary safe space.

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