The City to Host Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Ceremony

The City of West Hollywood’s Transgender Advisory Board is hosting its annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Ceremony on Transgender Awareness Month, Tuesday, November 20, at 6pm at The Jeremy Hotel, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. The day serves to honor and memorialize people who have lost their lives because of anti-transgender hatred and prejudice.

Each year the names of transgender people who have passed away due to hate crimes will be read at the ceremony. The flags at City Hall will be flown at half-staff in remembrance. A march will immediately follow the event.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 2017, was the deadliest year with at least 29 deaths of transgender people reported dead in the United States due to fatal violence, the most ever recorded. 2018 has already seen at least 22 transgender people fatally shot or killed by other violent means. These victims were killed by acquaintances, partners and strangers, some of whom have been arrested and charged, while others have yet to be identified. Some of these cases involve clear anti-transgender bias. In others, the victim’s transgender status may have put them at risk in other ways, such as forcing them into homelessness.

HRC reports that while the details of these cases differ, it is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia conspire to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities, barriers that make them vulnerable.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is part of the City of West Hollywood’s recognition of Transgender Awareness Month, which is recognized throughout the United States in November each year. Throughout the month, West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard, is lit in blue, pink, and white lights to represent the colors of the Transgender Flag and a transgender flag has been raised atop the building. During Transgender Day of Remembrance, the flags flown at City Hall will be flown at half-staff in remembrance of those lost.

Attendance to this year’s event is free to the public, but there is a fee of $20 for those who choose to park at The Jeremy Hotel. Validated overflow parking will be available at the West Hollywood Park five-story public parking structure, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard; a shuttle will transport people from the five-story parking structure to The Jeremy Hotel. The shuttle will run from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. There is a bus stop located at La Cienega Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard (a tenth of a mile from The Jeremy Hotel).

For more information about the City of West Hollywood’s Transgender Awareness Month events, visit www.weho.org/tam, or contact Bonnie Smith at [email protected] or (323) 848-6371.