November 20 marks the 11th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a
date set aside to memorialize people killed as a result of transphobia.

The annual commemoration began in 1998 when founder and writer Gwendolyn Ann Smith marked the November 28, 1998, murder of Rita Hester, a trans woman, in Allston, Mass., near Boston. More than 10 years after Hester’s brutal stabbing, her murderers have not been identified. Hester’s murder prompted the creation of the website Remembering Our Dead and a 1999 candlelight vigil in San Francisco to honor her and all transgender people lost to violence.

The San Francisco Examiner reports that in the past 12 months, more than 95 transgender people have died violently, more than twice the number reported in the previous year.

For a calendar of events around the world, visit Transgenderdor.org.

The Human Rights Campaign marks the date with this video.