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The Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance returns 7 p.m. Monday at the historic Paramount Theatre on the Asbury Park Boardwalk.

The international event is held each year on Nov. 20 to pay homage to those brutally killed in the past year due to anti-transgender violence. The Day of Remembrance began in 1999 as a way to mark the one year anniversary of Rita Hester’s death, a Massachusetts transgender woman whose murder remains unsolved.

The event also aims to bring awareness to the continued violence, struggles, creativity, resilience, and beauty of the transgender community, organizers said in a written statement.

This year, 50 transgender people [25 in the US] will be remembered, mourned, and honored, but those figures only represent the reported cases, therefore might only be a fraction of the real figures, organizers said. Latin American has the highest reported murder rate across the globe.

Transgender Day Of Remembrance events will take place in over 200 cities in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania.  

Founded by trans activist and musician Dr. Geena Buono in 2015, the local event has grown quickly into a statewide gathering.

The event will feature local musicians, speakers, and a reading of the this year’s transgender victims during a moment of silence. A candlelight vigil walk down Ocean Ave to Paradise nightclub at The Empress Hotel [101 Asbury Ave] and concludes with light fare dessert refreshments.

The event is organized in partnership with the Transgender Alliance of NJ, Garden State Equality and the LGBTQ community, with support from Madison Marquette and The Empress Hotel.

For more information, email tgalliancenj@gmail.com or via Facebook. 

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