Every year we celebrate and morn the trans lives lost over the previous years. This year it went well over 300 deaths throughout the world.
These are not deaths that are because of old age or natural causes. These are 300+ people who have been murdered or driven to suicide. These are deaths that could have been avoided but once again trans people have systematically neglected and abused. These are no accidents or one off occasions.
Many of the people murdered are trans women of colour and some were sex workers. They are the people who are being neglected the most. These are also the stories that get brushed under the carpet , not only by the general population , but often by queer people themselves. There is still a huge stigma being known to be a sex worker, and because its not the norm, it is often not talked about. Because its not talked about, we are in fact not reaching out to the trans people who in fact need us.
Trans sex workers are happily discussed if we are in videos that cater to the fetish market, and we are not a nuance if we are polite and keep our mouths shut. We are told that our actions are what causes huge stigma in pur community, and that there is always a better option than to be a sex worker.
But WE ARE GETTING MURDERED. We cannot be silent over what is killing our friends, our partners, the people we love. We cannot keep brushing under the carpet that once again the numbers of deaths are stupidly high. We cannot be silent over people getting away with this and we certainly cannot be silent about the cuts to services that are affecting our community.
Please take a moment to go through the list of people who have passed this year. This should never happen. No one should die because of their gender and who they are. People should be allowed to live how they want in safety and not murdered because they are transgender
Thank you.
For the list please go here
Tyler Charles Austen 