Find your local Day of Mourning vigil site

Closeup Of People Holding Candle Vigil In Dark Seeking Hope

In the past five years, over 650 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.

On Tuesday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.

In the year since our last vigil, our community has lost over 60 more people to filicide. These are just the cases that we are aware of – since we began monitoring this issue, we learn about more murders every week. We read the victims’ names, see their photographs, and gather what information we can about their lives. The criminal justice system has continued to give lighter sentences to parents and caregivers who murder disabled children. And we have seen the news media continue to portray these murders in a sympathetic light. We hold the Day of Mourning vigils to draw attention to these injustices, to commemorate the lives of victims, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities.

Since 2012, ASAN and other disability rights organizations have come together to send a clear message that disability is not a justification for violence. To learn more or sign up to lead a vigil, view the Anti-Filicide toolkit.

We’ll be at our local vigil on Tuesday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there. If you cannot attend a vigil in-person, please consider taking part in our Virtual Vigil.

COVID-19

Some Day of Mourning vigils are virtual, while others are in-person. We recommend that each person consider the potential risks, and make sure to wear a mask and social distance if you attend an in-person vigil. If you are concerned about attending a vigil in-person, please consider attending ours or another virtual vigil in your area.

All vigils below are virtual unless otherwise noted.

2022 Vigil Sites

USA

ALABAMA
Birmingham, AL

Alabama Care, mccartney.hagar@gmail.com

ARIZONA
Tucson, AZ
Tom Racey, Cornelius@cornelius413.net

CALIFORNIA
Berkeley, CA

Spectrum: Autism at Cal, spectrumatcal@gmail.com

Burbank, CA
American Lutheran Church Burbank, Vicar@alcburbank.org

Sacramento, CA
The Disabled and Nondisabled Alliance at Sac State, dana.sacstate@gmail.com

COLORADO
Durango, CO

Community Connections, Inc., jnewman@cci-colorado.org

DELAWARE
Newark, DE

ADAPT DELAWARE
, cherhamps@aol.com

GEORGIA
Tucker, GA

disABILITY LINK, Ncolman@disabilitylink.org

ILLINOIS
Chicago, IL

Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, chicagolanddpocc@gmail.com

INDIANA
Indianapolis, IN
(In-Person)
Butler University Advocates For Autism, ldvander@butler.edu

MARYLAND
Churchville, MD
Martina Kuzenski, martina.kuzenski@gmail.com

College Park, MD
University of Maryland PCDI, mappel@umd.edu

College Park, MD (In-Person, UMD Students)
Leah Fleischer, Lfleisc3@terpmail.UMD.edu

College Park, MD (In-Person)
Kathleen Nicole O’Neal, kathleen.n.oneal@gmail.com

MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, MI

Disability Culture @ U-M, DisabilityCultureUM@umich.edu

MINNESOTA
Minneapolis, MN

Queer Grace Community & Minnesota Autistic Alliance, queergracecommunity@gmail.com

NEVADA
Reno, NV

Center for Self Determination, csdlibrary@gmail.com

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Statewide

Neighborhood Access, info@neighborhoodaccess.org

NEW JERSEY
Edison, NJ (In-Person)
Alliance Center for Independence, ctonks@adacil.org

NEW YORK
Statewide

Kathryn Carroll, kathryn@kecarroll.com

Hempstead, NY
Hofstra Law Disability, Rights, & Community, mrosen96@pride.hofstra.edu

NORTH CAROLINA
Durham, NC
(In-Person)
Active Minds at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, kane22m@ncssm.edu

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh, PA
The Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, cori@autisticpgh.org

Collegeville, PA
Ursinus College, jfrymiare@ursinus.edu

TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN

Courtney Johnson, courtney@justkeepstimming.com

TEXAS
Ft. Worth, TX

The Self-Determination Group, TheSDG@thearcofdfw.org

UTAH
Salt Lake City, UT
Neurodiverse UT, wlgeertsen@gmail.com

VERMONT
Putney, VT (In-Person)
Landmark College, katieroquemore@landmark.edu

VIRGINIA
Blacksburg, VA
Virginia Tech, shew@vt.edu

Williamsburg, VA (In-Person)
William & Mary Neurodiversity Student Group, neurodiversitysg@email.wm.edu

WASHINGTON, DC
Autistic Self Advocacy Network, mbartley@autisticadvocacy.org

Canada

Canada-wide
Autistics United Canada, info@autisticsunitedca.org

Toronto, ON
Autistics for Autistics Ontario, rayashields@hotmail.com