In observance of the ninth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, on Tuesday, Nov. 20, The Center, along with the Transgender Advocacy and Services Center, the Imperial Court de San Diego, and other allies in the community will co-sponsor a candlelight march and memorial service for those in the transgender community who have perished in the last year.

“This is a day to reflect on the loss of those brave enough to stand up and be whom the Gods intended them to be and to use them as the new stars in the skies to guide us on our path to equality,” said Sister Iona Dubble-Wyde, a member of Asylum of the Tortured Heart, The San Diego Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who will participate in the event.

“As Sisters we represent those who do not have the voice or strength to speak up for themselves on this day.”

The Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is held every Nov. 20, is set aside to memorialize those who have been killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The day was initiated in San Francisco after the 1998 murder of Rita Hester. Hester’s slaying contributed to mobilizing the transgender community to fight fear and hatred of transgender people, a phenomenon that has come to be termed “transphobia.”

Some noted victims of transphobia related violent crime include Brandon Teena, Gwen Araujo, Fred Martinez, Nizah Morris and Lauren Harries. Another notable case is the case of Tyra Hunter. In 1995, Hunter, 24, was involved in an automobile accident and when rescue workers discovered she was transgender, they called her names and stopped administering treatment. She later died in a hospital.

Locally, roughly 200 people attended last year’s march, and organizers expect attendance this year to be about the same.

The event will begin at The Center in Hillcrest at 6 p.m., with a candlelight march. Participants will return to The Center for a memorial ceremony at 7 p.m., in the auditorium.

The keynote speaker for the event will be Alberto Cortes, executive director of Mama’s Kitchen.

According to Conner Maddocks, president of the local chapter of Female-to-Male International, Cortes was chosen because he has been a longtime supporter of the entire community.

“He’s especially been supportive of the trans community, where he has served on several steering committees from the beginning,” Maddocks said. “No matter what, he’s always there for us.”

Also included in the ceremony will be musical performances by the Metropolitan Community Church choir, as well as narratives depicting the lives and untimely deaths of transgender victims around the world. There will also be a reading of the names of victims who have perished through the years.

“Over the last few years we have lost up to 29 people per year, simply for the fact that they were transgender,” Maddocks explained. “In many cases the attacks are not committed by someone who knows the other person, but are very random attacks that are usually very violent. … [W]e have seen many cases where they were not only shot, but beaten and burned. These attackers are vicious people who go overboard to the total extreme.”

It is likely that when the stories are shared, as in years past, details of the often brutal and macabre crime scenes will not be spared during this segment of the program.

“In an effort to curb violence against the transgender community and the GLBT community at large, The Center is working effectively to try to give more opportunities for people to come together to show their support for and learn about the transgender community,” said Caroline Dessert, coordinator of The Center’s Public Policy Department.

The recent “Why the ‘T’?” forum to discuss issues of transgender inclusion in the larger GLBT community and the Transgender Day of Remembrance are just some of local leaders’ efforts. In the near future, organizers at The Center plan to have ongoing discussions about such issues, Dessert said.

“With the current debate that has sparked nationally over transgender inclusion in the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), we are engaging in more in-depth, thoughtful dialogue about the role of the transgender community within the larger LGBT community,” she recently said at a discussion focused on transgender inclusion.

“When the ‘T’ is left out, we leave our ‘T’ brothers and sisters vulnerable to the same discrimination we face. We leave all LGB individuals vulnerable to gender discrimination and we divide and weaken our entire community,” she explained.

Maddocks agrees with Dessert.

“As much as there is violence against the gay and lesbian community, we have it too and we need to help each other get it stopped,” he said, inviting everyone in the community to come show their support Tuesday night.

“Our main goal with events such as these is to bring awareness to the greater community that this is happening and ask for support from everybody in the community,” he concluded. “It’s not happening in some far off place, it’s happening right here. But no matter where they are, our community can be there to show their support and help to put a stop to it.”