Miami Trans Day of Remembrance

Landon J. Woolston is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Call to action -- your support is critically needed.

All around the world on November 20th, people come together for Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) events to mourn and honor the lives lost to anti-transgender violence, transphobia, and at times, suicide. Many of these events focus solely on mourning, and some center politicians, celebrities, and cisgender allies.

In 2013, after a local white gay male "ally" delivered a speech at Miami's TDOR written by a trans woman of color, failing to credit her, and owning her story as his own, several local trans people vowed to never let that happen again. Since then, the Miami Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience (TDORR) planning committee has brought the community together to respectfully mourn and honor the lives of trans people lost, while also focusing on resiliency, uplifting the lives of trans people living in our community. Last year, over 180 people were in attendance.

Miami's TDORR is a grassroots event organized by an entirely trans/NB committee, centering trans/NB peformers. All proceeds raised go directly towards purchasing necessary event materials, along with providing a stipend to the transgender/Non-Binary TDORR planning committee members and all speakers and performers for their time, brilliance, and contributions.

For many in the transgender community, November 20th is a holy day on which we come together to mourn, uplift, love, and affirm one another. Each year, we can only hope that we will all be together to share space again on the same day next year.

However, we know that the grim reality is that someone among us will likely be gone.

Since our TDORR event last year, we have lost at least two more South Florida trans people. Above is Bishop S.F. Makalani-Mahee, a Black transgender man lost to the systemic violence of the non-profit industry that far too often uses and tokenizes trans people without providing equitable compensation, adequate time off for self-care, or trans-inclusive health insurance coverage.

Below is Gabrielle Holley, a transgender woman, who we lost when she took her own life out of fear during a routine traffic stop in Broward County.

The first part of our event is a Remembrance portion, where we will mourn and honor the lives of these two irreplaceable beings, along with the lives of trans people lost across the country and the world.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of trans people are dying every year. This is especially true for trans women of color, whose lives are stolen from us constantly. This is an epidemic. We must come together in community, as trans people and allies, to honor and lift these lives up.

The second part of the 2018 TDORR event, the Resiliency program, will continue to focus on uplifting and celebrating the lives of trans people living in our community. This includes performances by local trans spoken word artists, trans authors, trans singers and songwriters, and trans drag performers.

Please support our efforts so that we may honor those we've lost with dignity and beauty and uplift and celebrate the vibrance and aliveness of trans people in our local community.

https://www.facebook.com/events/687707464949031/

By contributing to this event, you're not only supporting us to honor trans lives lost with dignity and grace, but you're also contributing to local trans people's existence, survival, and radical act of resilience.

(art by B. Parker)

We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you at Barry University, in Andreas Room 111, at 6pm on Tuesday, November 20th, 2018.

Sincerely,

The 2018 Miami TDORR Planning Committee