After enjoying the Friendsgiving meal and meeting friends old and new, adjourn together to the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony. This solemn memorial includes the reading of names of trans people murdered since November 2021, music, poetry, and the lighting of candles. Guests are then invited to walk to City Hall for a brief reading of mayoral proclamations, followed by snacks and conversation back at the Church.

Observed since 1999, TDOR has grown from a small gathering in Allston, Massachusetts to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman brutally killed the previous year. Now Transgender Days of Remembrance occur in 185 countries around the world. The observance has special significance for Berkshire County, as we continue to remember Jahaira DeAlto, local student, activist, and friend to many, and Christa Steele Knudsen, a trans community and pageant organizer. Both of these lives were ended too soon by domestic violence.