Dear Friend,

Today is Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR) - a national day of
recognition, solidarity and mourning. Started in 1999 to honor Rita
Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998, TDOR became an
annual call to memorialize those we have lost to anti-trans violence

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and call for justice.

In recent years, the SPLC has observed a disturbing rise in hate
speech and discriminatory legislation
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designed to demonize and erase transgender people. Right now, trans
lives, especially Black trans lives, are constantly threatened by
anti-LGBTQ extremism.

After Obergefell v. Hodges' historic expansion of LGBTQ rights,
legislatures in the South and across the country retaliated by
organizing an onslaught of state-level anti-LGBTQ legislation. The
transgender community in particular has been consistently targeted
with laws preventing trans girls and women from playing on female
sports teams, bans on trans youth using the bathrooms and facilities
aligned with their identity and restrictions on gender-affirming
medical care.

The SPLC envisions a world where each person is celebrated, valued and
encouraged to embrace their authentic selves without fear of violence
or retaliation. That's why we helped file a lawsuit challenging
Florida's Don't Say Gay bill

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this year. And, after Alabama legislators passed a law criminalizing
healthcare for transgender children and adolescents, the SPLC joined a
coalition of civil rights advocates to file a federal lawsuit
challenging the law

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on behalf of a group of families, a reverend and two health care
providers affected by it.

More than 50 years ago, transgender people of color led the Stonewall
uprising. They raised their voices not only in the name of equality,
but in defense of their own right to live. Today, we remember those
who sacrificed to advance trans rights and trans lives lost to hate
and violence. Trans people have always played an integral role in the
fight for justice, and we will keep marching alongside them until we
wipe discriminatory laws from the books in all 50 states and replace
them with legislation that protects and affirms LGBTQ rights.
 
In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center



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