FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2024
TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
Every year, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed on November 20. The week leading to TDOR is Transgender Awareness Week.
GLAAD states on their website that TDOR is the “annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of
anti-transgender violence.”
An HRC report states that of the 36 transgender persons murdered in the last year, 78% identified as women, 61% were women of color, half were Black women, over 54% were under the age of 35, 22% were killed by intimate partners, and 9% were killed by a friend or family member.
It is clear that Anti-trans violence involves intersections of misogyny, racism, and domestic violence.
When Transgender people are demoralized and targeted by preachers and politicians, it fuels the unreasonable hatred against them.
During this year’s Transgender Awareness Week, according to LGBTQ Nation, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia reportedly threatened to assault Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware if Ms. McBride were to make use of the women’s facilities at the Capitol.
When asked if she had indeed made such a threat, MTG, without denying the report, said simply, “I shouldn’t have to” fight someone for using, in her opinion, the “wrong” restroom.
This sort of threatening language makes Transgender people less safe. Sarah McBride is a person, and someone elected by her district to represent them in Congress. She is also a history maker as the first transwoman elected to Congress. Ms. McBride shouldn’t have to worry for a second that she might be bullied by a fellow Congressperson.
Today, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced a ban on transwomen using the women’s restrooms at the Capitol. Despite his very recent claim that everyone is treated with dignity and respect on Capitol Hill, this anti-trans bathroom policy seems disrespectful to transgender people in general, and to Ms. McBride in particular.
When questioned by reporters about McBride specifically, LGBTQ Nation reported that the Speaker said, “For anyone who doesn’t know my established record on this issue, let me be
unequivocally clear: a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.” He wrongly claimed that his view is the teaching of scripture.
Mike Johnson is entitled to his prejudices and to his limited and outmoded understanding of gender, but he should not use his biases to discriminate against a duly elected member of the House of Representatives. And for this discrimination against and disrespect of Transgender persons to occur on TDOR is not only insulting, it also illustrates what fuels violence against Transgender people and why TDOR and Transgender Awareness Week are needed.
The Bishops of the Global Justice Institute, under the leadership of Presiding Bishop Pat Bumgardner, call on all people of goodwill, and especially all people of faith to apply the Golden Rule toward our Transgender siblings.
We ask that people who claim to embrace a religious tradition remember that love and kindness are the guiding themes of most religions, and to realize that Transgender persons are no less entitled to kindness than anyone else.
And finally, we call on all supporters of the Global Justice Institute to continue your support during these uncertain and, for many, perilous times, and to join us in praying for the safety of Transgender people and all members of the LGBTQ community going forward.
“…there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul
Wishing you blessings of hope and resilience,
+Bishop Durrell Watkins
on behalf of the Global Justice Institute’s Council of Bishops
+Bishop Pat Bumgardner, Presiding Bishop & Executive Director
+Jim Merritt, Auxiliary Bishop
+Robert Griffin, Auxiliary Bishop
+Durrell Watkins, Auxiliary Bishop