Dozens March In Echo Park In Recognition Of Transgender Day Of Remembrance
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- Several dozen people, along with a band, marched along the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Logan Street in Echo Park on Friday night in recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also acknowledged the day, saying the following in a statement:
"Today we mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, and we turn our hearts and our minds to all of those who have lost their lives to violence this year... At least 36 transgender people, the majority of them Black and Latino transgender women, have been killed in 2020, but we know that number is likely higher because anti-transgender violence is so often unreported or misreported. So we mourn for all of those lost souls today.''
City officials gathered at 11 a.m. Wednesday for a virtual event for Transgender Awareness Week.
Participants and attendees observed a moment of silence and read the names of transgender gender non-conforming people who were killed in the U.S. in 2020.
Transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith started Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) in 1999, according to GLAAD.
The day was intended to be a vigil in memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998 and has since marked the honoring of all transgender lives lost to violence since Hester's death.
TDOR is held on November 20 each year, and the week before is also Transgender Awareness Week in the U.S., which raises awareness of issues in the trans community and aims to increase visibility for transgender individuals.
