For Immediate Release:
West Newton, MA – On the Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 20, 2024, the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton (FUUSN) will hold a vigil from 5-6pm. Rev. Joel Miller will lead the service honoring the memory of those who have died due to anti-transgender violence and providing the community a space in which to reflect, connect, and mourn together.
“It is so important that all of us, regardless of our gender, support the transgender community,” said Rev. Joel Miller, one of FUUSN’s co-ministers. Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner, co-minister, added, “Sexual and gender diversity are a blessing.”
FUUSN has held a vigil on the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) every year since 2014 to support its transgender members, members with transgender family and friends, and the greater transgender community in Newton and surrounding communities. All are welcome to attend.
TDOR was started in 1999 by transgender activist Gwendolyn Ann Smith in memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998.
“Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice,” Smith said.
FUUSN is located at 1326 Washington St., West Newton, MA.