Inclusive Community Church - Four Decades Celebrating God’s Love for All

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Every year we help lead the Transgender Day of Remembrance Candlelight Memorial for Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole.

This year's Transgender Day of Remembrance Candlelight Memorial Service for Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole, will be held on Sunday, 20th November 2022, at 5 pm at The Old Fire Station, located at 36 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8AD.

We are grateful to the Students' Union of Bournemouth University for graciously allowing us to use The Old Fire Station to remember and honour those who have lost their lives this past year to anti-transgender violence and discrimination. This will allow us to avoid the often inclement weather that we have endured during past events held outdoors in The Triangle, making the event more welcoming.

The Old Fire Station is centrally located in the Lansdowne area of Bournemouth, easily reachable by bus and train. Bournemouth University has parking available immediately behind the venue, off of Cotlands Road that is pay and display on weekends. Cotlands Road car parks, owned by BCP Council, are also nearby. The venue is an accessible venue.

Children are welcome to attend, with appropriate adult supervision, keeping in mind the often traumatic details surrounding the deaths of many of those whom we will be remembering.

Following the service, a separate room with a bar will be available for those who desire to be around others following the evening's events to chat and share with one another.

For additional information, check with your local LGBT+ organisation, or you may contact Inclusive Community Church on 03001237773 or at tdor@inclusive.church.

Our event is an open event and anyone who wishes to remember and honour our lost siblings is welcome to join with us.

About Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith when vigils were held to mourn the death of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was murdered in Boston in 1998. That first vigil has become an annual memorial for all the transgender people who have lost their lives to anti-transgender violence and discrimination during the past year. TDOR is held on the 20th November with vigils around the world. Rita Hester’s murder, like most anti-transgender murder cases, has yet to be solved.

'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.'

- TDOR founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Although not every person memorialized self-identified as transgender, each was a victim of violence or discrimination based on bias against transgender people. TDOR helps to raise awareness and allows us to publicly mourn and honour the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten. On this day, we stand together against hate; with a spirit of love and compassion, and then renew our commitment to work for justice. In this way, we not only honour those we lost, we affirm the lives of the living – in being allies, activists, and advocates as we affirm the truth…that all life is precious.

Click here for the TransLivesMatter website.

Click here for the TransLivesMatter Twitter page.

Below are some pictures of past Transgender Day of Remembrance events that have been held in The Triangle in Bournemouth.