Events are planned around the Bay Area to observe Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day, started by Bay Area Reporter Transmissions columnist Gwendolyn Ann Smith 25 years ago, is an effort to remember trans people killed by violence. Smith started the Remembering Our Dead project, of which the remembrance day is a part, in 1998, after Rita Hester, a young Black trans woman, was found dead in Alston, Massachusetts.
Today, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, or TDOR, formally observed on November 20, pays tribute to the hundreds of trans people killed in the U.S. and around the world.
Locally, there are a few events taking place.
Smith will be one of the guest speakers at a TDOR celebration of life ceremony Saturday, November 18, from 4:30 to 9 p.m. at the Vallejo Naval Historical Museum, 734 Main Street in Vallejo.
A flier for the event noted that Smith will be joined by speakers Jennie L. Thomas, Ph.D.; Mario Saucedo, president of the Solano AIDS Coalition; and Ms. Bob Davis, the founder and curator of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive, also located in Vallejo.
The evening will also feature performances from On the Fringe Visual and Performing Arts and by Koko Chanel and her Court of Queens, and an award presentation to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat for integrity in journalism.
In San Francisco, a coalition of groups will hold a TDOR event Monday, November 20. It begins with a rally at 5:30 p.m. outside of San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place. According to a post on Instagram, at 6 people will then march to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center at 1800 Market Street, where there will be a program from 7 to 9.
The event is being organized by many organizations, including the Trans March, San Francisco Pride, the LGBT center, LYRIC, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center at the San Francisco Public Library, the Transgender District, Bridge HIV of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, the Office of Transgender Initiatives, and the Trans Thrive program of the San Francisco Community Health Center.
On the Peninsula, the San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission will observe TDOR Monday, November 20, with an event at the San Mateo Public Library, 55 W. Third Avenue, in San Mateo.
An altar viewing takes place from 4:30 to 5 p.m., followed by the program and another opportunity to look at the altar at 6.
According to an email announcement, the event will include a reading of names and call to action.
The event is free. For more information and to register, click here.
On November 14, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a proclamation denoting November 20 as Transgender Day of Remembrance. County officials raised the transgender flag at Veterans Boulevard at the gateway to the County Center in Redwood City November 15.
Supes' panel advances leather district signage
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' land use and transportation committee this week advanced to the full board a proposal to add placemaking signs to existing street signs at 26 intersections in the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District in the South of Market neighborhood.
The panel advanced the resolution on a 2-0 vote November 13, with acting committee Chair Supervisor Dean Preston (District 5) and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin (D3) voting to forward the item with a positive recommendation. Committee Chair Supervisor Myrna Melgar (D7) had an excused absence as she was returning from a trip to Japan, as the San Francisco Standard reported.
The signs would help promote the cultural district, Bryan Dahl, a legislative aide to gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, told the committee. Dorsey is sponsoring the proposal. San Francisco Public Works and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency are aware of the plan, Dahl said.
Bob Brown, who is president of the cultural district's board, addressed the committee.
"We've already made some inroads to establish our presence in that area," Brown said, adding that the street signs would enhance the district and make people more aware they were in a cultural district.
David Hyman, another cultural district board member, said wayfinding is important.
"I take joy and pride in the way San Francisco celebrates its neighborhoods," Hyman said. "It would make this a visible declaration of our pride."
There was no opposition to the decorative street sign resolution, which is expected to be heard by the full board November 28.
MTT Way street renaming clears committee
The legislation to commemoratively name one block of Grove Street adjacent to Davies Symphony Hall after former San Francisco Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas advanced to the full Board of Supervisors after the land use and transportation committee forwarded it with a positive recommendation November 13.
Tilson Thomas, a gay man, is suffering from an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was appointed music director of the symphony in 1995 and served in that role for 25 years. San Francisco Mayor London Breed proposed the legislation last month.
The honorary MTT Way sign would hang underneath the official Grove Street sign (between Franklin Street and Van Ness Avenue), according to a news release from the mayor's office. No street addresses would need to be changed under the proposal.
The committee advanced the resolution on a 2-0 vote, with acting committee Chair Supervisor Dean Preston (District 5) and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin (D3) voting to forward the item with a positive recommendation. Committee Chair Supervisor Myrna Melgar (D7) had an excused absence. (See above.)
Speaking in support of the proposal was gay former state senator and former San Francisco supervisor Mark Leno. He has been close friends with Tilson Thomas and his husband, Joshua Robison, for the last 50 years.
"Michael's given his life to the teaching and promotion of music," Leno said.
Priscilla Geeslin, chair of the symphony's board of governors, said the body "wholeheartedly" supports the honorary street name for Tilson Thomas. She pointed out Tilson Thomas held a Pride concert at a time when LGBTQ rights were under attack and the symphony inaugurated Chase Center in 2019 with a concert featuring the rock band Metallica.
Matthew Spivey, CEO of the symphony, also stated his support.
"He fully embraced his role with style, grace, and vigor," Spivey said of Tilson Thomas' tenure as music director.
Catherine Payne joined the symphony as a piccolo player in 1996; she said she was the first musician Tilson Thomas hired. Now a flute coach with the symphony, Payne said that Tilson Thomas "is beloved in San Francisco and around the world."
No one spoke against the resolution, which is expected to be heard by the full board November 28. One public speaker said that the arts shouldn't be weaponized, though it was unclear what he was referring to.
SFPD's holiday toy drive ramps up
The San Francisco Police Department is once again partnering with Walgreens for its annual holiday toy drive for children in need.
According to a news release, this is the eighth year of the collaboration. "This year, more than ever, we are asking the community to please be generous in supporting this very worthy cause," SFPD officials stated.
Between now and Tuesday, December 19, individuals can purchase or drop off a new, unwrapped toy in any San Francisco Walgreens or any district police station. The toys will be collected by SFPD and donated to children during the holiday season.
Last year, approximately 6,000 toys were donated at Walgreens stores in the city, the release stated.
Help keep the Bay Area Reporter going in these tough times. To support local, independent, LGBTQ journalism, consider becoming a BAR member.