Find your local Day of Mourning vigil site

Closeup Of People Holding Candle Vigil In Dark Seeking Hope

In the past five years, over 550 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.

On Wednesday, 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 Wednesday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there. If you cannot attend a vigil in-person, please consider taking part in ASAN’s 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.

2023 Vigil Sites

USA

ASAN Virtual Vigil
Online

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

CALIFORNIA
Berkeley, CA—In Person
Spectrum@Cal, sarahbayoumi@berkeley.edu & shambhavi15@berkeley.edu

Burbank, CA —In Person
American Lutheran Church, Burbank, pastor@alcburbank.org

GEORGIA
Atlanta, GA —Virtual and In Person
Vincent DeCastro, vincent@abmagency.com

Brookhaven, GA—In Person
Elle Newbern, enewbern@oglethorpe.edu

Darien, GA—In Person
Leila Yoder, leilayoder@bellsouth.net

ILLINOIS
Chicago, IL
Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, hrotti2@uic.edu

INDIANA
Bloomington, Indiana—In Person
Neurodiversity Coalition @ Indiana University, abboshap@gmail.com

Indianapolis, Indiana–In Person
Butler University Advocates For Autism / BUD, butleradvocatesforautism@gmail.com

Muncie, Indiana—In Person
Aidan Draper, aidandraper51@gmail.com

LOUISIANA
Lafayette, LA
The Autistic Penguins tiffany_r@outlook.com

MARYLAND
Churchville, Maryland—In Person
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Harford County, martina.kuzenski@gmail.com

College Park, MD
University of Maryland Libraries, nedelina@umd.edu

MASSACHUSETTS
Weston, MA—In Person
Cambridge School of Weston, riverisleib20@gmail.com

MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor, MI
Marjorie Herbert, mgherb@umich.edu

MINNESOTA
Minneapolis, MN—In Person
Casey Velcko, ddomtwincities@gmail.com

Morris, MN—In Person
UMN Morris, lthomson@morris.umn.edu

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Portsmouth, NH
jules@neighborhoodaccess.org

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

NEW YORK

Ithaca, NY—In Person
Disability Advocates Union, disabilityawarenessunion@gmail.com

New York, NY—In Person
Autistic Adults NYC, autisticadultsnyc@gmail.com

Virtual, New York
NY Assn. on Independent Living, Not Dead Yet, and Ctr. for Disability Rights, dcoleman@notdeadyet.org

Rockville Centre, New York—In Person
Molloy University, Emintz@lions.molloy.edu

PENNSYLVANIA
Collegeville, PA
Ursinus College, jfrymiare@ursinus.edu

Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Center for Autistic Advocacy, info@autisticpgh.org

TENNESSEE
Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson, courtney@justkeepstimming.com

UTAH
Salt Lake City UT
Neurodiverse Ut, NeurodiverseUT@gmail.com

Taylorsville Utah
Salt Lake Community College Disability Resource Center, kelly.williamson@slcc.edu

WASHINGTON
Ellensburg, WA
Central Washington University Accessibility Studies Club and CWU ABLE, Christina-Marie.Wright@cwu.edu

WISCONSIN
Elm Grove, Wisconsin
Clayton Mortl, claymort1929@gmail.com

VERMONT
Putney, VT
Katie Roquemore, katieroquemore@landmark.edu

VIRGINIA
Blacksburg, VA
Lydia Qualls, lydia19@vt.edu

Richmond, VA—Open only to staff & students
Pride Place at VHBG, conelykk@gmail.com

VIRTUAL
U.S. Alliance of Women, Nonbinary Persons, and Other Gender Minorities with Disabilities, j.mejias@womenenabled.org

CANADA

Guelph, Ontario, Canada
DEEP (Disability Education Empowerment and Pride) in collaboration with the University of Guelph Disability Community disabilityprideguelph@gmail.com

Toronto, Ontario
Autistics for Autistics Ontario (A4A) rayashields@hotmail.com

EUROPE

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Shannon Town, Co. Clare, Republic of Ireland, European Union—In Person
NCPD – The Natonal Council for (the status) of People with Disabilities Company Limited by Guarantee / NCPD Autistic (Advocacy) Council of Irelandutistic (Advocacy) Council of Ireland Damon@NCPD.ie