November 20 marks Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a solemn annual observance honoring the transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals whose lives were cut short by anti-trans violence. Established in 1999 following the murder of Rita Hester, TDOR has grown into a worldwide call for recognition, accountability, and systemic change.
This year’s remembrance comes amid a documented rise in political hostility, targeted legislation, and social stigma aimed at transgender communities across the United States. Advocacy groups report that these conditions continue to endanger transgender lives—particularly Black and Brown transgender women, who remain disproportionately targeted.
A National Pattern of Violence
Human rights organizations have tracked consistent patterns: misgendering in official reports, undercounting due to lack of comprehensive data collection, and a broader political climate that feeds the very bias fueling violence. While official national numbers vary due to inconsistent reporting, community-based databases identify dozens of individuals killed in the U.S. this year alone—many through preventable, hate-motivated acts.
Policy Failures and Human Consequences
Advocates stress that the violence does not occur in a vacuum. State-level rollbacks on LGBTQ+ protections, restrictions on gender-affirming care, and bans targeting public life all contribute to an environment where transgender people face heightened vulnerability. These measures intensify stigma and increase barriers to safety, healthcare, employment, and housing security.
For the Humane Party, the pattern is clear: violence—whether physical, political, or structural—thrives where a society refuses to extend equal personhood and self-determination to all people.
Human Dignity, Legal Recognition, and ERA2
The Humane Party platform holds that full civil equality is non-negotiable, and that constitutional protections must explicitly include all, without exception. The Equal Rights Amendment 2 (ERA2) stands as the party’s proposed remedy to longstanding gaps in U.S. constitutional law.
ERA2 would modernize the language of the original Equal Rights Amendment to protect sex, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation, ensuring equal treatment under the law for every individual. By embedding these protections directly into the Constitution, ERA2 aims to prevent precisely the kind of systemic discrimination that fuels anti-trans violence.
Honoring Lives by Changing Systems
On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, the focus is twofold: honoring the lives lost—and demanding the conditions necessary to stop the violence from continuing. That includes:
Accurate national data collection on anti-trans violence Robust anti-discrimination protections Access to affirming healthcare Protections for youth and adults in education, employment, and public life Cultural and institutional accountability at every level
The Humane Party continues to advocate for policy rooted in dignity, equality, and nonviolence—the same principles at the foundation of TDOR itself.
A Call to Remember—and to Act
TDOR is not only a memorial; it is a call to confront the causes of violence head-on. The lives remembered today deserved safety, belonging, and a nation that recognized their full humanity. Honoring them demands nothing less than a commitment to building a society where their futures would have been possible.
The Humane Herald 