In 1999 a candlelight vigil was held in San Francisco’s Castro District and Boston to honor Rita Hester, a beautiful Black trans woman who was brutally murdered in her home on November 28th, 1998. Her family and friends loved her deeply and like many transgender murder cases — hers has yet to be solved. The first Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigils (TDOR) were organized by activists Gwendolyn Ann Smith and Penni Ashe Matz. Smith wrote “Remembering Rita Hester and the untold thousands of other murdered trans people is a day-to-day battle with overwhelming grief, as we who live try to hang on to every name we can."

For decades, communities across the globe have gathered on November 20th to raise public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, as well as to publicly mourn and honor the lives of our trans and non-binary community members. A rallying cry at many of these vigils is “Give us our flowers while we are still here.” Inspired by this plea, our theme for this year is "Flowers." We are inspired by the nature of perennial flowers - going dormant and coming back every year, by wildflowers - who are rugged and tough and can grow in the worst conditions, and by the most famous portrait of Marsha P. Johnson, who was covered in flowers. Flowers are associated with life and death, and their earthiness provides the grounding needed for us to keep moving forward, turning grief into action. We want to take care of and celebrate trans people while they are with us. Join us for an evening of speakers, a grief meditation, a short reception, and the honoring of the trans lives lost to violence in the last 12 months.

This event will take place on the ground floor, with open seating. This event will be wheelchair accessible. There will be gender-neutral restrooms. This event will be in English. This is a vape-free event.

Event outline:

Arrival: 5:45-6

Vigil begins: 6:15

Vigil: 6:15-8

• Speakers will include community members Genevieve Spring and Elle Vervoot, UCSC student Rian Nakahara, and Elaine Johnson of the NAACP

• There will be a grief meditation by Meggie Pina

• There will be a reading of the names

Reception with light refreshments: 8-8:30

Event ends: 8:30

This event is a joint partnership between The Diversity Center and The Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center, featuring tabling by Walnut Avenue Family & Women's Center and the NAACP Santa Cruz. This event would not be possible without the support of The Resource Center for Non-Violence.

For questions, please contact Nic at Nic.Laflin@diversitycenter.org