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Advocates issue call to action on Transgender Day of Remembrance

Dozens of trans people killed in the U.S. in 2024 amid more anti-trans rhetoric

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Maryland Safe Haven held its annual Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil in Baltimore on Nov. 16, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Maryland Safe Haven)

LGBTQ organizations and religious congregations across the country are marking Transgender Day of Remembrance with vigils and other events to honor trans people who lost their lives this year. 

Founded in 1999 by trans activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith, the first day of remembrance began as a vigil to commemorate the one year anniversary of the murder of Rita Hester, a trans woman who was killed in Boston. Since then, the day has grown into a national and international event to honor the memory of trans people who have been murdered, and to spotlight anti-trans violence. 

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20.

The Human Rights Campaign on Tuesday released its annual report documenting fatal violence against trans and gender-expansive people. 

The report found at least 36 trans and gender-expansive people in the U.S. lost their lives to violence since the last Transgender Day of Remembrance. The true number is likely higher, the report noted, as some deaths go unreported or misreported. 

Most of the victims were young and people of color, with Black trans women accounting for half of the lives lost. 

Tori Cooper, the director of community engagement for the HRC’s Trans Justice Initiative, described the disproportionately high rates of violence against Black trans women as “a disturbing reality that reflects the trend of violence that continues to plague our community which disproportionately faces racism, misogynoir, sexism, transphobia, and a myriad of other societal issues.” 

Advocates for Trans Equality, a trans advocacy group, published its own report on Monday, documenting at least 43 trans people lost to violence since November 2023. Another 24 died by suicide.

Olivia Hunt, director of federal policy at Advocates for Trans Equality, said in a statement accompanying the report’s release that it “honors the memory of those lost and spotlights the urgent need for change to protect those still with us.”

“Despite hopeful strides in healthcare, identity documentation, housing, employment, and education over the past 25 years, a resurgence of hate and misinformation — especially during this recent election cycle — reminds us how hard-won and fragile these advances are,” she said.

Anti-trans rhetoric was central to the campaigns of President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans this year, who collectively spent nearly $65 million on anti-trans ads between August and October. 

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to push for legislation that would establish the recognition of “only two genders” in the U.S. and to ban hormonal or surgical intervention for trans youth across all 50 states. Trump also promised to reverse a 2024 Biden administration policy that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation under the Title IX federal civil rights law, and to reinstate a ban on trans people serving in the military on his first day in office. 

Cathy Renna, the director of communications at the National LGBTQ Task Force, said Republicans’ harmful rhetoric, laden with misinformation and stereotypes about trans issues, creates a “permissible climate of hate” that emboldens transphobia. 

In light of the incoming administration, Renna said the Task Force is focusing on supporting the trans community, “doing the work that we need to do to either shore up rights that we’ve already been able to achieve, and fight back against the ongoing attacks, whether it’s a legislative attack, or whether it’s just the continued pushing out of misinformation, particularly about trans youth.”

Translegislation.com, which tracks trans-specific legislation, this year has tracked a record-breaking 665 anti-trans bills considered across 43 states this year, of which 45 have passed. The majority of these bills target access to gender affirming care for trans youth, which trans activists say is essential health care. 

Cooper linked the denial of such care to the fact that trans people are significantly more likely to experience poor mental health during their lifetimes than cisgender people. 

“Any child who is denied the health care that they need, though they don’t always fail, it’s setting them up for failure … It’s setting them up to experience mental health issues and discomfort in a variety of ways, and that’s especially important for trans youth,” Cooper said. “We’re not experiencing more mental health issues because we’re trans. It is because of the way that people who are not trans treat us and talk about us and create legislation about our gender identities and our gender journeys.”

Cooper, whose Trans Justice Initiative supports trans people through leadership programs and grants, emphasized allies play a crucial role in ensuring trans people feel safe and in countering anti-trans rhetoric.

“Trump and his allies, what many of them have done, is they’ve created lies. And the lies have unfortunately fooled — there’s no other way to say it — they have fooled people who don’t know trans people,” she said. 

Allies should fully embrace and actively practice allyship, Cooper explained, in order to ensure that trans people feel safe, comfortable, and supported. At the same time, allies must confront and immediately correct any disinformation and misinformation about trans issues with factual information. 

Local groups commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance

Several organizations in D.C. and beyond are commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance and showing solidarity with the trans community this week. 

The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington DC is hosting a service from 6-8 p.m on Wednesday. The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center on Wednesday is organizing an open mic event at the Busboys and Poets on 14th Street, N.W., to honor the trans people who lost their lives this year.

Equality Loudoun is holding a vigil on Thursday in Ashburn.

Bet Mishpachah, an LGBTQ synagogue in D.C., on Nov. 15  marked the occasion with a commemorative service. Maryland Safe Haven on Nov. 16 held a vigil outside Baltimore City Hall and a ball at the Baltimore War Memorial Building afterwards. 

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Federal Government

UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House

University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

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U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon (Screen capture: C-SPAN)

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”

Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”

Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”

Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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