LOS ANGELES TO HOLD 2ND ANNUAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE TO HONOR TRANSGENDER VICTIMS OF HATE CRIMES OVER 200 PEOPLE EXPECTED TO ATTEND MEMORIAL AND VIGIL LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES -- A coalition of Los Angeles transgender advocacy organizations announced today that it will hold its second annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 at the Metropolitan Community Church in West Hollywood. The Transgender Day of Remembrance exists to raise public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people and to provide an opportunity to publicly mourn and remember the victims of anti-transgender hate crimes.

The Los Angeles event begins at 7 P.M. in the MCC sanctuary at 8714 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. Confirmed speakers include: Rabbi Levi Alter, author of God Our Healer; Rev. Dr. Justin Tanis, author of Trans-Gendered: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith; and local transgender activists, Alexander Yoo, Shirley Bushnell, and Maria Roman, with other speakers to be announced. The program will also include portions of "A Requiem In Celebration of Gwen Araujo: The Transfigured Body," a multi-media performance piece celebrating the life of Gwen Araujo, the transgender teenager murdered in Newark, Calif., in Oct. 2002.

Following the program at MCC, there will be a candlelight vigil and march up Santa Monica Blvd. to the Matthew Shepard Human Rights Triangle at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Crescent Heights.

This year, Day of Remembrance events will be held in more than 60 locations, including California observances in Arcata, Fresno, Santa Ana, San Diego and San Francisco. Other Day of Remembrance event cities include: Phoenix, Ariz.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Hartford, Conn.; Atlanta, Ga.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Salt Lake City, Utah; as well as international observances in Paris, Milan and Perth, Australia.