Dear Good Samaritans,

Today is International Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Every year on November 20, the world is invited into the sacred act of remembering. Transgender Day of Remembrance was first observed in 1999, when transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith created a vigil to honor the life of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in 1998. That vigil was not only an expression of grief—it was an act of holy witness. It declared that Rita’s life was precious, that her memory deserved to be held with tenderness, and that the silence surrounding violence against transgender people could not continue.

Since then, Transgender Day of Remembrance has grown into a global moment of reflection and lament. The day pays tribute to all members of the transgender community who have been lost to anti-transgender violence. It also reminds us that anti-transgender violence is not an isolated tragedy, but it is part of a wider pattern of discrimination, dehumanization, and hostility that transgender people—especially transgender women of color—face every day.

In recent years, this hostility has intensified. In 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans following the introduction of over 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state houses across the country. In 2024, another 500 were proposed. By 2025, that number surged to a staggering 1,012 more bills. The vast majority of these bills specifically target transgender people, restricting basic rights and freedoms that most of us take for granted. Twenty-seven states have now banned or limited access to safe, evidence-based, age-appropriate gender-affirming medical care. Four of those states include provisions that could investigate and criminalize parents who support their transgender children accessing gender-affirming care as perpetrators of child abuse. Supporting their child’s identity places families at risk of losing custody and care.

As Christians, we cannot look away from this pain. In July, The Episcopal Church reaffirmed the rights and freedoms of transgender and gender non-conforming people, and reiterated its stance of opposing efforts aimed at restricting their rights or limiting access to care.

Our Baptismal Covenant asks us, again and again: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons? Will you love your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? These are not symbolic promises. These commitments are at the very core of who we are as followers of Jesus. They shape who we are, how we live, and set the expectation for how we show up in the world, especially when the vulnerable are threatened.

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, I invite you to pray with me a prayer written for Transgender Day of Remembrance by The Rev. Marie A. Tatro, Vicar for Community Justice Ministry in The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island:

Gracious and loving God, you made all of humankind in your image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: On this International Transgender Day of Remembrance, we remember those who were killed because of their all-encompassing humanity; help us to overcome our anger and our fear of those whose lives move beyond our binary definitions; draw us closer to the mystery and complexity of your infinite creativity and creation; teach us to look upon all of God’s children with love and compassion, that we may all live in safety and in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Peace,