Photo credit: Tristan Crane/Here, PortraitsGwendolyn Ann Smith is a writer, computer programmer, graphic designer, and activist for transgender, non-conforming (TGNC) rights. The inaccurate and disrespectful reporting around the tragic deaths of TGNC individuals, such as Rita Hester, inspired her to create the Remembering Our Dead project, an online chronicle of violence committed against transgender people. She also lobbied America Online (AOL) to adopt policies allowing discussions of gender issues on their service, which led to the creation of the first public forum centering transgender issues on a major online service — the Transgender Community Forum. Smith also organized the first-ever Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) in San Francisco while fellow activist Penny Ashe Matz coordinated an event in Boston. From there, TDOR multiplied into the iconic occasion we know today.