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Local activist and musician Geena Alessia Buono has organized a candlelight service in observance of national Transgender Day of Remembrance [TDOR] from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Asbury Park Carousel House.

The annual TDOR honors all transgender individuals killed as a result of anti-transgender bigotry and violence.

According to a Williams Institute study, 41 percent of transgender people try to kill themselves at some point in their lives; this is compared to 4.6 percent of the general population.

Founded in 1999, TDOR memorializes the unsolved murder of Rita Hester on November 28th, 1998. In 2010, over 185 cities throughout more than 20 countries held organized observances.

The candlelight service will be hosted by Buono and feature speakers from Asbury Park’s LGBT and spiritual communities,  as well as music from local musicians, including Joe Harvard.

Harvard said he hopes the event will help “to broaden public awareness of this issue here in the Jersey Shore and remember the victims of transgender violence every year in the United States and throughout the world.”

Buono, who could not be reached at time of press, wrote on her social media site Thursday: “This week is Transgender Awareness week, tomorrow is Transgender day of Remembrance. Wear any shade of purple tomorrow to honor the trans men and women whose lives have been taken to soon due to hate. Trans lives matter. People matter. It doesn’t have to be like this. We need to stand together and advocate for the trans community. Educate, listen, and love.”

The event also includes poetry readings and the reading of the victim’s names followed by a moment of silence. A small reception will follow in the Empress Hotel lounge on Ocean Avenue, with refreshments donated by the Paradise nightclub.

For more information, visit their Facebook page.

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