HRC’s ED Chad Griffin
Photo by: HRC
Commemoration comes as the nation moves forward on LGBT equality, but anti-transgender violence remains at alarming rates
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, joins in the commemoration of Transgender Day of Remembrance on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. The 14th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is a solemn tribute to those who have lost their lives to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice and also seeks to raise awareness of the constant threat of brutality faced by the transgender community. HRC Steering Committees in 25 cities around the country are partnering with local organizations on community events.
“Today we commemorate our transgender brothers and sisters we’ve lost, and stand in solidarity against hate-based violence,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Transgender people face violence at unfathomable rates and we must keep all those affected by these crimes in our memory so that we can see an end to this brutality.”
Statistics on anti-transgender violence are startling. Twelve percent of reported hate crimes were against transgender people according to a 2008 report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program (NCAVP). NCAVP also found that, in 2011, 40 percent of murders against the LGBT community were against transgender women, particularly women of color. Seventy-eight percent of transgender children in grades K-12 reported being harassed in school, 35 percent physically assaulted, and 12 percent sexually assaulted, according to a 2011 report from the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
The first Transgender Day of Remembrance was held in honor of Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 led to the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, hundreds of cities around the country and the world have hosted annual Transgender Day of Remembrance events in solidarity with transgender hate crime victims. For a list of vigils and remembrances worldwide, visit www.transgenderdor.org.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
[From a news release]
