Central Presbyterian Church issued the following announcement Nov. 15.
The morning of Nov. 17, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will offer its first-ever denominational worship service commemorating the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was begun in 1999 by advocate and writer Gwendolyn Ann Smith to remember the November 28, 1998, murder of Rita Hester, a member of the transgender community in Boston who worked with education about transgender issues. Hester was stabbed 20 times in her apartment and, as is the case with many transgender homicides, her murderer(s) have never been found.
By many accounts, 2021 has been a record-breaking year in the United States and around the world for the murder of people who are transgender, though advocates caution against such characterizations saying while things have improved in recent years, police and media have a history of misgendering trans crime victims. There is a broad consensus that a disproportionately large number of victims are transgender women of color.
The official Transgender Day of Remembrance is Nov. 20. The PC(USA) service will be the national church’s weekly Wednesday morning Chapel Service. It will be streamed live at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on the PC(USA) Facebook Page.
Organizers of the historic service shared some of their thoughts about the occasion with Presbyterian News Service. You can read their comments, below, or watch the video at the top of this page.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Central Presbyterian Church
Alerts Sign-up