Transgender Day Of Remembering 2017

So today I spoke at our TDoR service. I’m not going to sugar coat it. It might be difficult to read and I totally understand that. But it is here for anyone to see. It mentions the police, corporate murder, suicide, and it may be distressing. 

Speech for TDoR

This year murders on trans people globally rose by 10% from the previous year. To put that into perspective that means on average, this year, 1 trans person was murdered every single day. Disproportionatly the statistics of the people in question who are murdered are predominantly women of colour. They are the most likely to be abused , assaulted and murdered and this is heart breaking. The areas of where these women are murdered are often the most poorer and harder to reach and often their lives, and ultimately their deaths go under the radar, or more often than not brushed under the carpet. 

In the UK the statistics in general for murder in the community are low, very low in fact. This doesn’t detract the severity of the act of violence that is used against us, but also brings on another talking point. 

One thing that wasn’t added into the statistics this year was corporate murder. For those who do not know what corporate murder is, it’s an act of aggression, neglect and abuse done by an industry, organisation or point of power, where the victim either dies from neglect, their injuries and /or takes their own life as there is literally no alternative. 

You would think that this would be shocking enough but trans people in the UK are more likely to die by their own hands due to chronic systematic failures than almost any other thing that can kill us. 

This year, six months ago yesterday, we lost Finn because of prolonged faliues done by the NHS and the current government leadership. This isn’t subject to controversy, it is a fact. His care within the NHS and the shocking lack of care the conservatives have towards physically and mentally ill folk meant that he had no choice, but to take his own life. Elly is here today to talk about Finn but I just want to say that on behalf of Navigate, there is still a massive hole in our hearts that I don’t think will ever be filled. 

Corporate murder doesn’t discriminate, and honestly any one from any walk of life may come across it or have examples of it in their lives. However trans people are highly affected by this, especially those of working class back grounds, people of colour or those with physical or mental health difficulties. Working class people especially are brushed under the carpet, as we discovered this year with Greenfell tower. Whilst this wasn’t an act of trans related corporate murder, it was a tipping point to all of us working class folk that the government would rather put us in insecure death traps that will catch alight with ease than think about our direct safety in our own homes. 

Whilst you may think this is a situation that shouldn’t be mentioned here, it really is, and here is why. Trans and queer people are far likely to be in social housing because of poverty and long term sickness and need than cishet folk in our city. We live in those council blocks, in the estates that look run down to shit. The ones where they have damp or have cladding that goes up. These places are neglected by the government and as we found out this year, are 20 story high coffins. 

And if that isn’t going to kill us of then damn the lack of funds the NHS gets, fucking will because I tell you now those 24 month waiting lists to see a  specialist is the invisible rope round our throats. And that is if we can get referred. GPs are now turning people away in surgeries in Brighton, because too many trans people need help. It is now harder to get our foot in the door for our own care. We are having to put ourselves at risk getting hormones or finding dangerous ways to pay for care privately.

This isn’t even including the neglected service that is our hospitals and even our own mental heath teams, which if we added all the numbers of trans people who died because if that then that number of murders is now reaching into its tens of thousands since TDoR started 

Don’t even get me started about how even our own “police” force treats trans people. You don’t serve us, you just serve the people who opress us, by placing us in prisons that do not fit our correct gender which lead to the murder of trans women , and sometimes even misplacing reports where victims of abuse have come forward and allowing perpetrators of crime free. Why are we still getting murdered, why are trans kids being attacked and more to the point, why the fuck hasn’t shit newspapers like the sun and the mail not been given cease and desist orders? You want to know what kills us. Shit like this. 
I supose what this year has been is an awakening to the fact that no, not all trans murders are listed in events such as this. That intersectionality still plays a huge part of both our lives and ultimately our deaths as trans people. That being poor, disabled and or a person of colour will still determine how you will be treated not only by the general public but by organisations that are ment to keep us safe, and that in all honestly if things don’t change soon enough more trans people are going to end up dead before their time. 
Thank you.

Remembering The Dead – TDoR

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