9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

Media Advisory
For Immediate Release

October 22, 2007

Contact:
Tiffany Woods- Program Coordinator
Tiffany.woods [at] earthlink.net
510-713-6690 x6121

Lisa Carver- Program Manager
scu10 [at] earthlink.net
510-713-6690 x6124

SECOND ANNUAL ALAMEDA COUNTY TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 18, 2007 IN OAKLAND, CA

Oakland, CA - For the second year in a row, Alameda County’s Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony will be held in Oakland, CA on November 18, 2006 at Preservation Park’s Niles Hall. Last year's inaugural event in Alameda County was attended by over 100 people; up to 200 are expected this year. Planned by Tri-City Health Center’s TransVision program, the event will be one of over 200 ceremonies across the nation and in many foreign countries to commemorate this day.

The 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance will honor transgender and gender variant individuals killed due to anti-transgender violence over the previous twelve months. Most recently, a transgender woman was found murdered in San Francisco last April; her death remains unsolved.

As well as remembering transgender victims of violence and hate crimes, the event will recognize HIV/AIDS and tobacco-related illness as two other major health issues that have disproportionately affected transgender people living in Alameda County. Keynote speakers will include elected officials and key community members; the event will conclude with the reading of names of those who have been lost in the past year. This event will begin at 6:00 pm with a reception before the ceremony, which begins at 6:30 pm, and is open and free to the community.

TransVision is a program serving transgender women with HIV and other health-related services provided through Tri-City Health Center, a non-profit community based health clinic in Fremont. The Day of Remembrance began in 1999 as a way to draw attention to the issue of anti-transgender violence. The event was initially created to mark the one year anniversary of the death of a Massachusetts transgender woman, Rita Hester, whose death remains unsolved.