County Adopts Proclamations for Transgender Day of Remembrance

On Tuesday, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted a pair of resolutions in support of transgender and gender non-conforming people. The first proclaims November 13, 2018, as Transgender Day of Remembrance in San Mateo County to honor the memory of those whose lives were lost as a result of anti-transgender violence, while the second condemns recent Trump Administration efforts to redefine the legal definition of “sex” in a manner that could threaten civil rights protections for this community.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was established in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a transgender activist, to memorialize the murder of Rita Hester in Allston, Massachusetts. Since 1999, Transgender Day of Remembrance has been held annually and quickly evolved from a local gathering started by Smith into an international event. In 2013, Transgender Day of Remembrance was observed in over 200 cities throughout more than 20 countries.

“The Transgender Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to raise the visibility of transgender and gender non-conforming people who demonstrate courage and resilience in the face of prejudice, discrimination and violence,” said Dave Pine, the President of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and author of the resolution. “This effort also serves to heighten awareness of the need for elected officials, law enforcement, the media, and all of us to recognize the challenges faced by this community, and help them feel welcome.”

San Mateo County has recognized the Transgender Day of Remembrance since 2013 and has been a leader on Transgender and LGBTQ issues broadly. This includes the opening of the LGBTQ Pride Center in San Mateo in 2016, supporting the Pride Initiative through the Behavioral Health and Recovery Service’s Office of Diversity and Equity, establishing in 2014 the first county or city sponsored LGBTQ Commission in the State of California, and providing for gender neutral restrooms in all county facilities, among many policy efforts.

“In partnership with the County LGBTQ Commission, our county leadership and our community in general we have worked to make San Mateo County an inclusive environment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and two-spirit communities of San Mateo County,” said Craig Wiesner, co-chair of the County LGBTQ Commission. “By recognizing the struggles and contributions of our transgender community we are furthering that effort.”

In October, the federal Department of Health and Human Services Department proposed a new interpretation of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans sex discrimination in federally funded schools, which would redefine “sex” to be the gender assigned at birth. Should the change be broadly implemented, it could threaten equal access to health care, housing, and education under federal law for members of the transgender community.