LOS ANGELES - The City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women (LACSW) voted to release a statement today on Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20th.
"The City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women acknowledges and supports Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, 2021. Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender woman, to memorialize the murder of transgender woman Rita Hestor in Allston, MA.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is an opportunity for communities to come together and remember transgender and gender non-binary people who have been murdered as a result of transphobia. It is an opportunity not only to pause to remember those we have lost, but to help raise awareness about the persistent stigma and discrimination experienced by this community. It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia combine to deprive them of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities, barriers that make them vulnerable.
The City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women recognizes the transgender and non-binary communities facing this harm, and is honored to work with the City of Los Angeles Transgender Advisory Council on creating a Los Angeles that is safe and accessible for transgender and non-binary individuals."