Trans Day of Remembrance
Nov. 19 — Tomorrow, Nov. 20, is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which honors members of the community lost to transphobic violence. Scroll down for a round-up of TDOR events and celebrations.
But first, some headlines:
🤔 The House and Senate passed a bill yesterday compelling the release of the Epstein Files, which President Trump has said he will sign. Maybe we’ll find out who “Bubba” is after all.
✍️ The Congressional Equality Caucus has sent a letter urging Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to condemn the surge in anti-trans rhetoric coming from members of Congress.
⚕️ The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week adopted a directive that bans Catholic hospitals from offering gender-affirming care to their patients.
⚖️ Seventeen transgender Air Force members filed a federal lawsuit last week, accusing the U.S. government of unlawfully revoking their early retirement pensions and benefits.
🛂 The State Department has reversed course again on U.S. passports with X gender markers, now saying they will be valid until they expire.
💊 A “breakthrough” HIV prevention drug is being introduced in Eswatini and Zambia, two African countries hit especially hard by the disease.
🕯️ All of us at the Voice are sending condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of two beloved activists: Dr. Alvan Quamina, executive director of NAESM, and Tom Coffin, environmentalist and co-founder of underground newspaper The Great Speckled Bird.
We are ever new…
Collin
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Southern Fried Queer Pride hosts Trans Pwr Week
💪 In alignment with Trans Day of Remembrance, Black and QTPOC-focused organization Southern Fried Queer Pride is hosting Trans Pwr Week, five days of trans and non-binary events and spaces, today through Nov. 23.
Events include a talent show, dance party, movie & chill night, a bike ride & hangout, a pop-up thrift shop, and more.
➡ Find out more about the five-day event.
🏳️⚧️ MORE TDOR EVENTS
➳ Athens Pride & Queer Collective will host a Trans Day of Remembrance event on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Town & Gown Theater.
➳ Nonprofit This Doesn’t Define Me will hold its annual Trans Day of Remembrance Celebration Tribute on Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. at First Christian Church in Decatur.
➳ Trans Day of Remembrance: A Celebration of Life will be held in Macon at 6 p.m. with performances and recognition of this year’s NOMO Organization Honorees.
➳ PrideGCSU in Milledgeville will host a bake sale fundraiser on Trans Day of Remembrance from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The HUB, with proceeds going to Lost-N-Found Youth in Atlanta.
Italian Ruins to DIVE for!
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
🌊 Journey beneath the waves with Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas at Fernbank Museum.
You won’t want to miss this immersive journey beneath the Mediterranean Sea to uncover ancient shipwrecks, artifacts, and lost worlds. Featuring real relics found off the coast of Italy, HD video explorations, and more, this exhibition reveals how underwater archaeologists bring the past to light.
➞ This exhibit is open daily, or you can swing by for after-hours during select special events! On view now until Jan. 11, 2026.
Trans powerlifting and bodybuilding returns to Atlanta on Nov. 22
🏋🏽♂️ The International Association of Trans Bodybuilders and Powerlifters (IATBP) returns with its annual powerlifting meet and bodybuilding competition on Nov. 22, bringing trans and non-binary strength and physique trainers together for a day of camaraderie and friendly competition.
The event kicks off at 9 a.m. at DNA Strength Gym with the powerlifting meet. Lifters will perform three lifts – bench, squat, and deadlift. Bucky Motter, the Executive Director of IATBP, told Georgia Voice that they expect around 13 lifters to show off their strength.
➡ Find out more about the competition.
Actor Clayton Farris discusses his role in hit horror film ‘Weapons’
🎞️ Clayton Farris feels he got lucky with his role in the 2025 hit “Weapons,” the Atlanta-lensed horror film about 17 school children who go missing in a small town.
“Somehow, some way magically, I got offered a role in this movie,” Farris said. “I really don’t even know how it happened. If I didn’t believe in manifestation, I do now.”
Farris, who is bisexual and says he splits his time between Los Angeles and Atlanta, plays Terry, one half of a gay couple partnered with school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong).
➡ Read Jim Farmer’s full interview with Farris.
MORE MOVIE NEWS
🎄 Jim also spoke with Christin Baker about her new lesbian rom-com, “The Christmas Writer,” which is hitting streaming services this weekend.
📺 Activist and journalist Mark Segal has called out filmmaker Ken Burns for the “glaring absence and defamatory framing of LGBTQ+ people” in his new PBS documentary, “The American Revolution.”
Best Bets
🦃 The Fox Theatre is hosting its second annual Foxgiving Feast on Nov. 20 – a chef-curated, Thanksgiving-inspired menu and complimentary wine and sherry tastings from Olé & Obrigado.
🎤 Broadway star Jessica Vosk performs her holiday-themed show “Sleigh” at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m.
💐 The Atlanta Botanical Garden is hosting the 15th annual “Garden Lights, Holiday Nights” now through Jan. 11. The grounds are illuminated with thousands of lights.
🎨 LIVING ART: Black & Latinx Trans Body will be held on Sunday, Nov. 24, from 4:30 to 9 p.m. at the Atlanta Eagle. The event centers Black and Latine trans and queer artists, healers, and creatives.
🛼 Bad Bitch Skate Club is hosting its Skatesgiving Potluck on Monday, Nov. 24, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Grant Park Gateway.
