Trans Day of Remembrance 2022
"Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible -- it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice."
- Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
After a week of awareness, hope, and love, today is extra hard. We are fighting a battle daily to be seen, to be respected, and to be allowed to live authentically.
Today we honor the trans and gender-diverse lives we lost in the last 12 months. The lives that have been documented and reported, at least. The number every year brings up anger, tears, grief, fear, hopelessness, and numbness. [As a side note, they’ve expanded the deadline to contribute to the US Trans Survey to December 5, 2022. The last nationwide survey was done in 2015 - so it is imperative we have as many trans voices heard as possible as this data is invaluable for research, allocating resources, etc.]
Every year on this day, we say the names of people whose lives were taken from them due to violence and hate. The number grows every year. These are brutal crimes. These are precious humans found in mass graves. These are deaths by suicide. And all of these deaths stem from hate. 390 people. One of them was 10 years old. These were 390 preventable deaths.
In this post, we want to provide you with some support resources you may need. We want to encourage self-care for our trans siblings. We are going to grieve and honor who we lost. We need cis people to use their privilege. We are going to educate you on the traumatic reality.
Self-Care
For self-care, please take the time and space you need today to give yourself whatever you need. Spend time with those who see you. Find community in spaces with shared identities. Allow yourself time to grieve. If you want to talk to someone, the Trans Lifeline is accessible. If you’re a teen, Trevor Project is another valuable resource. Connect virtually or in person with safe(r) spaces.
If you’re in Georgia, consider engaging in supportive community environments like Southern Fried Queer Pride or attend local support groups. If you’re not in Georgia, Trans Lifeline has created a list of resources.
Take Action
If you have the privilege to do so, take action today. Donate money, support and volunteer your time, and if you can vote or contact your representatives, fight against anti-trans health bills.
Trans Housing Coalition (THC) - https://www.transhousingcoalition.org/
TRANScending Barriers - https://www.transcendingbarriersatl.org/
Trans LifeLine - https://translifeline.org/
Trans Women of Color Collective- https://www.twocc.us/
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund- https://tldef.org/
National Center for Transgender Equality- https://transequality.org/
Point of Pride- https://www.pointofpride.org/
The Trevor Project- https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Gender Spectrum- https://genderspectrum.org/
The Anti-Violence Project (AVP)- https://avp.org/
Transgender Law Center’s Legal Resistance Network- https://transgenderlawcenter.org/
Harness the privilege you have to make change. We need this to change. Fight every day to protect the human rights of your fellow humans. The rights of beautiful souls who are accessing their authentic selves.
It’s critical that everyone understands the severity of this situation. The violence, the hate crimes, the fear experienced, leads to disproportionate rates of murder and suicide deaths in the trans community.
The TDor Project has collected data for trans murder and suicide victims dating back to 1970 all over the world. Out of the 4832 documented deaths, 83% were related to violence, 16% were deaths by suicide. The remaining 1% were related to medical deaths, custodial, or uncategorized (TDor Project).
According to the Trevor Project, 1.8% of youth in the United States identified as transgender (Trevor Project). The chart below reflects the percentage Depression, Suicidality, and Victimization of trans youth compared to cisgender youth (Trevor Project).
Today our trans community is active mourning - cis allies, it is not our day to rest. It is our day to rise and be proactive (and vocal) in advocating for our trans friends and family.
