Remembering the Victims of Hate
By Michael Heflin
Just in time for tomorrow's Transgender Day of Remembrance, Transgender Europe has released an updated report from its ongoing Murder Monitoring Project.
The report documents murders of trans people (179 in the last 12 months; a total of 487 since 2008) by country (the majority last year from Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, and the USA). It further illustrates the horrific hatred and violence transgender people continue to face in much of the world today and the need for strong action by governments and other institutions in society to address it.
Each year on November 20, people gather in cities around the world to remember those in the transgender community who have been killed. The day of remembrance was initiated in 1998 following the murder of Rita Hester, a transgender African American women in Allston, Massachusetts. In response to her murder, a group of friends organized a candlelight vigil to express their grief over her death and to call for public action to address violence against transgender people. Today, the event is marked in more then 180 cities worldwide.
Until November 2021, Michael Heflin was the director of equality for the Open Society Human Rights Initiative.
