WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the 22nd Transgender Day of Remembrance, the National Center for Transgender Equality is calling for renewed action on issues critical to the community.
“This year we have seen unprecedented violence against transgender people, especially Black and Latina women. At least 37 transgender or gender non-conforming people already have been killed in the United States this year,” said Mara Keisling, NCTE’s executive director. “We must rededicate ourselves to advocating for real change and to lifting up the voices of our community.”
NCTE has committed an agenda to improve the lived-experiences of transgender people, including increased access to safe, affordable housing; policies that protect transgender people from discrimination and increase economic opportunity; the decriminalization of sex work; expansion of access to health care and an end to cash bail, among other vital reforms.
“The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in 1998 as a response to the murder of Rita Hester in Boston,” Keisling said. “On this day, we remember the lives of those in our community that have been taken from us by hate-based violence, and we pledge to honor their names through our work to make the world a better, safer and fairer place.”
###
