Today is the day the trans community remembers our fallen: those who have died because others were unable to accept that a trans person had a right to exist.
It is not easy living in a world that is openly hostile to you. Sure, there are pockets that are accepting, and those pockets are growing. But even in places where we have been given full and equal rights, too many still openly campaign for our demise. Rarely do they say they’d like to see us dead, but their actions that marginalize or dehumanize us often lead to that very outcome. Sometimes we die at the hands of hateful bigots. Sometimes, though, we die from our own hands because we can’t live any more without being our true selves, or because living with constant fear, bullying, and loneliness is just too painful to endure.
So if you know a transgender person, please let them know that you care. If possible, please let them know they are loved. At the bare minimum, please let them know that they are accepted.
And if you see hatred directed towards us, please intercede. You have privilege that we don’t, and your advocacy might save our lives, so that next year, we won’t be adding more names to the list of those that we are remembering.
Please visit https://tdor.info for a full list of all the names of our trans brothers and sisters that were lost in the last year, and GLAAD’s page to learn more about this day.