By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

remembering lives lost

Education key as world marks Transgender Day of Remembrance

Nov 19, 2020 | 6:30 PM

This Friday, the world marks Transgender Day of Remembrance, or TDoR.

The observance recognizes all people who have been killed in the last year and historically because of suspected anti-transgender prejudice.

It was established by advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith in 1999 following the death of Boston resident Rita Hester, a transgender woman killed a year earlier.

According to an annual project by Transrespect Versus Transphobia (TvT) called Trans Murder Monitoring, 350 transgender and gender-diverse people were reported murdered worldwide between Oct.1, 2019 and Sept. 30, 2020. That represents a six per cent increase year over year.

In Red Deer this year, there are no formal events taking place due to COVID-19, but the board of the Trans and Non-Binary Aid Society (TANAS) is hopeful people will take time out of their day to educate themselves.

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“It is important to remember that with a lack of education surrounding the gender-diverse community, the number of individuals murdered each year will continue to rise, so we need to get ahead of this and educate society about our community,” says Bobbi-Jo L’Hirondelle, TANAS Chair. “With fear comes hate! Remember that we don’t come into this world knowing hatred. We are taught hate by people who are close to us, and we can unlearn hatred, but it takes the courage and strength of people in our community to stand up and be the voice.”

In lieu of a memorial, which is usually held at a local funeral home, TANAS will share a slideshow Friday on its social media.

“People can do as they see fit, whether that is lighting a candle at home or having a moment of silence for these folks who are no longer with us,” she says. “Every name on the list is noteworthy. These people did nothing other than try to live their authentic lives and were murdered for simply existing.”

The TvT report shows the majority of the 350 murders took place in Brazil (152), Mexico (57) and the U.S.A. (28), boosting the grand total since Jan. 1, 2008 to 3,664 cases in 75 countries. There were nine in Canada in that span.

Of the last year’s 350, two from Canada are listed, including one unnamed victim in Montreal last Dec. 21, and another — 51-year-old Julie Berman — in Toronto on Dec. 22.

The average age of those murdered in the last year is 31, with the youngest being just 15.

(Transrespect Versus Transphobia 2020 Trans Murder Monitoring project)

(Transrespect Versus Transphobia 2020 Trans Murder Monitoring project)