After the 1998 murder of Rita Hester, a transgender African American woman, Gwendolyn Ann Smith started the Transgender Day of Remembrance as a vigil in 1999 to remember all the transgender individuals who had lost their lives to acts of violence that year.

The day is now an important opportunity to come together to remember individuals from the transgender community who were murdered due to prejudice and anti-transgender hate. The Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on Nov. 20, also raises public awareness of violent hate crimes against those who identify as transgender by publicly mourning and honoring lives lost.