Sponsored by:
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
Senator RAYMOND J. LESNIAK
District 20 (Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Ruiz
SYNOPSIS
Designates November 20th as "Transgender Day of Remembrance."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution designating November 20th of each year as "Transgender Day of Remembrance" in New Jersey.
Whereas, Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual day of observance that is held on November 20th to honor the memory of those persons whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence; and
Whereas, TDOR started as a vigil by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a 34-year-old African-American who was a highly visible member of the transgender community and worked locally on education and transgender issues in her native Boston, before she was brutally murdered in her apartment on November 28, 1998, a murder that remains unsolved; and
Whereas, Although Rita Hester's murder was not the first time that a transgender person was the victim of transphobia and violence, her death became the catalyst for TDOR, held in San Francisco on the one-year anniversary of her death, and this vigil commemorated not only Rita, but all who were tragically lost in anti-transgender violence; and
Whereas, TDOR founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith explained that "with so many seeking to erase transgender people – sometimes in the most brutal ways possible – it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice"; and
Whereas, Gwendolyn Ann Smith also launched a TDOR website for the purpose of recognizing and remembering those persons whose lives have been lost to anti-transgender violence; and
Whereas, The Human Rights Campaign reports that in 2015 there were at least 21 murders of transgender persons in the United States, which is more than any previous year on record, and a disproportionate number of these victims were transgender women of color; and
Whereas, TDOR, now in its 18th year, is a time for the transgender community and allies to mourn those persons who have been victims of anti-transgender violence, to commit to ensure that their lives and deaths are not forgotten, and to call attention to the continued violence and injustice that many transgender persons face each day; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. November 20th of each
year is designated as "Transgender Day of Remembrance" in the State
of New Jersey to honor the memory of those persons whose lives were lost in
acts of anti-transgender violence.
2. The Governor is requested to annually issue a proclamation calling upon public officials and citizens of this State to observe "Transgender Day of Remembrance" with appropriate activities and programs.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This joint resolution designates November 20th of each year as "Transgender Day of Remembrance" in the State of New Jersey to honor the memory of those persons whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. The joint resolution also requests the Governor to annually issue a proclamation calling upon public officials and citizens of this State to observe "Transgender Day of Remembrance" with appropriate activities and programs.