Trans Day of Remembrance
Year of Inclusion
Trans Day of Remembrance (TDoR) has been held every year on 20th November since 1999. Originally an online event, TDoR was first organised by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, following the death of fellow trans woman Rita Hester, who was murdered in Massachusetts the year before.
Since then, TDoR has become a yearly observance of deaths within the trans community that have resulted either directly or indirectly from transphobia and transphobic violence. Transphobia is a fear, disgust, stereotyping, or hatred of transgender and other gender non-conforming individuals because of their gender identity or perceived gender identity. The day is marked by solemn commemoration, often including candlelit vigils, church services, and — perhaps most notably — the reading of a list of names of trans people who have lost their lives in the year since the preceding event.
In 2020, TDoR will honour the 350 trans people who lost their lives in the preceding year, having risen from last year’s figure of 331. This figure reflects the deaths of trans people that have been reported as resulting from anti-transgender violence and discrimination. This increase from last year is accompanied by a similar increase in inflammatory rhetoric faced by trans people, and rollbacks of rights and positive representation for trans people and the trans community, as seen in various countries.
Yet, in reflection, this year has seen some of the biggest civil rights movements of recent years, with the “Black lives matter” movement being at the forefront. Events such as these have shown the stark need for reform when it comes to discrimination and violence towards minority groups. This is especially pertinent for TDoR and looking through an intersectional lens at the discrimination and violence faced by trans people of colour. Of the 11 reported murders of trans people in Europe this year, half of these were of migrants. In the US, 79% of reported murders of trans people were of trans people of colour.
Though most of the murders recorded through projects such as the TDoR ‘Remembering Our Dead’ project have occurred in America, reports of transphobic hate have quadrupled over the past five years in the UK. Trans people are disproportionately more likely to experience hate crime than cis people, and this is higher still among trans people who are Black, Indigenous or otherwise people of colour. Yet despite even these worrying reports, we must keep in mind that what little data we have only scratches the surface, as reporting of hate crimes against trans people is very low. This is due in part to fear of discrimination when reporting such crimes, including misreporting by justice systems which often misgender trans people, and use their former names.
As we leave 2020 — which sought to be a ‘Year of Inclusion’ for the Civil Service — it is vital we strive to be more empathetic. This can be started by removing roadblocks for trans people accessing safe environments, many of whom often face additional challenges and discrimination including, sexism, transmisogyny, racism, discrimination due to their disabilities and more. Between now and TDoR 2021, we must ask ourselves; will we let the worrying increases in violence and discrimination against trans people continue, or will we make sure that list of names is shorter next year?
For further reading on TDoR, Trans lives, Trans-intersectionality and Transphobia please see the suggestions below.
Trans Day of Remembrance
- Glaad — TDoR
https://www.glaad.org/tdor - Transgender Europe — TDoR
https://tdor.tgeu.org/
Trans Lives
- TransActual — Trans lives
https://www.transactual.org.uk/graphics/trans-lives - Beyonce Karungi — Out of the margins
https://www.stonewall.org.uk/people/out-margins-beyonce - Sabah Choudrey — My queer ramadan
https://sabahchoudrey.com/2018/06/01/my-queer-ramadan/
Trans Intersectionality
- Times — Munroe bergdorf, Next generation leaders
https://time.com/collection-post/5896367/munroe-bergdorf-next-generation-leaders/ - Trans during COVID-19 in Pakistan
https://www.hidayahlgbt.com/post/trans-during-covid-19-in-pakistan - Growing up Takatāpui — Whānau Journeys
https://takatapui.nz/growing-up-takatapui#meet-participants
Transphobia
- TransActual — What is Transphobia
https://www.transactual.org.uk/transphobia
