Tonight, we are in a first-floor apartment on Park Vale Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts on November 20, 1998. We will be talking about the unsolved murder of Rita Hester.
“She was always dancing… her life was a song."
Rita Hester was an amazing woman. A rock musician who toured Europe! She loved Greece and traveled there frequently on vacation. She had beauty, talent, and grace. Rita lived large and loved big according to her friends.
She also didn't back down from a fight. And on the night of November 20th, Rita fought hard for her life. Maybe if the police had gotten her help quickly, she might still be alive. Maybe if she weren't black and trans, her murder would already be solved.
In 1999, transgender advocate Gwedolyn Ann Smith started Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester.
"Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. 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."
- Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
For more information, visit https://www.glaad.org/tdor
https://www.glaad.org/tdor
Tonight, we are in a first-floor apartment on Park Vale Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts on November 20, 1998. We will be talking about the unsolved murder of Rita Hester.
“She was always dancing… her life was a song."
Rita Hester was an amazing woman. A rock musician who toured Europe! She loved Greece and traveled there frequently on vacation. She had beauty, talent, and grace. Rita lived large and loved big according to her friends.
She also didn't back down from a fight. And on the night of November 20th, Rita fought hard for her life. Maybe if the police had gotten her help quickly, she might still be alive. Maybe if she weren't black and trans, her murder would already be solved.
In 1999, transgender advocate Gwedolyn Ann Smith started Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester.
"Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. 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."
- Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
For more information, visit https://www.glaad.org/tdor
https://www.glaad.org/tdor