Contact: Alok Vaid-Menon
Tel: 212-463-0342x15
Email: media@alp.org
Audre Lorde Project Hosts Annual Trans Day of Remembrance
(New York November 18, 2015)– Today, TransJustice, a program of the Audre Lorde Project, created by and for Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color, will host an annual Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR) event to lift up the lives of all of the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people who were murdered in the past year and celebrate the resiliency of Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color communities. The event will take place at St. Johns Lutheran Church at 81 Christopher Street from 5pm until 8pm. TDOR is being supported by an array of trans organizations in the city including Anti-Violence Project and FIERCE!
“Having a TDOR event led for and by Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color is important because since our communities are constantly under attack, it’s easy to become desensitized to the violence we experience. TDOR challenges our continued dehumanization and gives us a moment to acknowledge our power through collective care and vulnerability,” said Nico Fonseca, Audre Lorde Project TransJustice Co-Coordinator.
We live and breathe possibility as Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color. With our every breath we continue to fight the erasure of our greatness. TDOR is one of the many moments that our communities celebrate the beautiful lives that were taken from us. We must continue to love and practice our beliefs every day in order to believe in them,” said Olympia Perez, Audre Lorde Project TransJustice Co-Coordinator
This past year we have seen an increase in reports of violence against Trans and Gender Non Conforming people. According to a recent report by the Anti-Violence Project in 2014 there was an 11% increase in homicides against LGBTQ communities – 50% of which were of transgender women of color. Trans people of color are 1.6x more likely than the general population to experience physical violence and are 6.2x more likely to experience police violence.
The 2015 Trans Day of Remembrance calls for the end of such hate violence and will highlight other issues facing the Trans and Gender Non Conforming community including; discriminatory policing, criminalization and denial of comprehensive healthcare.
The Audre Lorde Project is a lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans and Gender Non Conforming People of Color center for community organizing, focusing on the New York City area. Through mobilization, education and capacity-building, we work for community wellness and progressive social and economic justice. Committed to struggling across difference, we seek to responsibly reflect, represent and serve our various communities.