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Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
November 17, 2018 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Our 9th annual vigil for International Transgender Day of Remembrance on Saturday, November 17, beginning at 6pm . The vigil is organized by the Welcoming Congregation Committee of the church, as part of our commitment to being welcoming and inclusive by honoring the dates that are special to members of the LGBTQ+ community and advocating on issues important to them.
The event will begin at 6pm with a gathering, a procession, and a brief ceremony on the Chelmsford Common.
The second part of the lay-led vigil will meet in the Chapel (next to the parking lot). In a service that will include music, the names of those killed around the world during the past year as a result of transphobia will be read. The vigil will end with words by Pat Taber and a brief period of fellowship.
There will be child care.
People are welcome to come for either or both parts of the vigil.
Pat Taber is a transgender person who has been a political activist on this year’s campaign to preserve Massachusetts’ Transgender Public Accommodations protection Law. She is a veteran, a proud father and a software engineer. She has a deep connection to the transgender community and strongly promotes trans inclusion into society at large. She views being transgender as a gift given to a select few as a part of God’s plan for humanity. She views the death of a transgender person to be a loss, not just to the community, but to a society that needs the unique gifts they bring.
International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed every November around the world. TDOR was first organized in 1999 by transgender woman and activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith, marking the murder of Rita Hester the previous year in Allston, Massachusetts. It has been held annually ever since in a growing number of locations to raise awareness about the continued violence that the transgender community suffers because of intolerance. While the official date is November 20, observances are often scheduled on various dates within a week or so, so that nearby events do not conflict with each other.
The church is located at 2 Westford Street, on the Chelmsford Common.