MTSU will set aside Saturday, Nov. 19, as a day to reflect on people who were murdered because of their gender identity or expression.

(Graphic courtesy of MT Lambda)

The Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs and MT Lambda will present the Transgender Day of Remembrance beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, with an all-day display on the Student Union Commons.

The event will culminate with a walk from James E. Walker Library to the commons beginning at 5 p.m.

A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender activist, started the observance to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was stabbed to death Nov. 28, 1998, in her Boston, Massachusetts, apartment.

The first vigil honoring Hester and other transgender murder victims was conducted in San Francisco’s Castro district in 1999. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is now celebrated worldwide each Nov. 20.

According to the International Transgender Day of Remembrance’s website, https://tdor.info, at least 87 transgender people around the world have been murdered in of Nov. 7, 2016. The website includes a printable list of those victims

MT Lambda is an MTSU student organization that provides support to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members of the campus community.

The MTSU Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs serves the university community by promoting “cultural awareness, understanding and a sense of belonging for all students at MTSU,” according to its website, www.mtsu.edu/idac/mission.php.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance observance is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812 or ida@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)