Source: San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community
Center


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: AJ Davis
(619) 692-2077, ext. 212


THE CENTER WILL HOST ANNUAL TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE ON NOV.
20

Nov. 7, 2005 -- SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego LGBT Community Center
(The Center) announced today that it will host San Diego's fourth
annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Sun., Nov. 20 at The
Center. In cities across the country, this annual event is organized
to commemorate the lives and mourn the losses of those killed due to
anti-transgender violence.

This year, participants are invited to gather at The Center for a
march at 5pm followed by a ceremony at 6pm. The keynote speaker will
be M.E. Stephens, a prominent local attorney and activist, as well
as a member of The Center's Board of Directors.

"Standing up to the violence that too many transgender people
experience on a daily basis is at the heart of this event," said AJ
Davis, director of public policy for The Center. "It is so important
that we gather to remember those lost to this type of hate-based
violence and, at the same time, renew our commitment to ending the
discrimination that lies at its root."

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is part a national effort to
bring attention to anti-transgender violence. The event was
established to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in November of 1998
kicked off the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San
Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester's murder - like too
many anti-transgender homicide cases - has yet to be solved.

This event is sponsored by the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial
Counties, AEGIS, Bienestar, Center for Community Solutions, The
Center/Hillcrest Youth Center, Ebony Pride San Diego, Equality
California, the Imperial Court de San Diego, Institute for
Transgender Education, Mama's Kitchen, Project S.T.A.R., San Diego
Regional Hate Crimes Coalition, Transgender Community Coalition and
the Transgender Law Center.

For more information, contact AJ Davis at (619) 692-2077, ext. 212
or at adavis [at] thecentersd.org.

The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community
Center, Inc., (d.b.a., The Center) is the nation's second oldest and
third largest LGBT community center. Functioning as the LGBT
community's leadership organization, The Center is led by a
20-member board of directors, employs over 40 paid staff and
utilizes more than 300 community volunteers. Incorporated in 1973 as
a community-based, non-profit, 501(c) (3) agency, The Center has
more than thirty years of experience as a health and human services
agency. In 2004, The Center provided direct services to more than
15,000 community members and through its events, activities and
advocacy, touched the lives of thousands more.

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