Youth RISE's statement on Transgender Day of Remembrance

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Youth RISE's statement on Transgender Day of Remembrance

28 November 2020

By Ailish Brennan

Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual day to mourn and honour transgender people who’s lives have been lost the hands of anti-trans violence. Transmisogyny is very much alive as a mainstream idea, transmysoginistic views are often casually expressed by public figures, politicians, and “good-faith” actors describing themselves as being “gender critical” and painting a picture that they are simply asking honest questions.

However, these views do represent and contribute more sinister and violent forms of transmisogyny. It seems every passing year goes on record as being the most violent year for transgender people, in particular in the United States, where many organizations including Human Rights Campaign collect data. In Germany, where I live, while data on transgender people specifically is difficult to find, reported attacks on LGBTQ+ people have been following a similar upward trend. Per Transgender Europe (TGEU), between October 2019 and September 2020 there have been 350 murders of transgender and gender-diverse people worldwide – a figure which does not account for a massive amount of unreported murders and a figure which is rising year-on-year.

This threat of violence and passive discrimination experienced push transgender people to unsuitable living situations and prevent their access to significant sections of society, all of which could be described as forms of institutional violence leading to harms and to deaths not accounted for in these violent murder statistics.