Each year, The 519 and Toronto’s trans communities join in an international commemoration of those who are no longer with us. This event serves as a memorial, a protest, an opportunity for reflection and a chance to see old friends and meet new ones.
The 519 acknowledges transphobia as a root cause of violence in our community, and recognizes the various forms of oppression in our culture that increase violence, and limit protections for many members of the trans community. We remember everyone lost to transphobia, racism, ageim, ableism, sex-worker stigma, classism, HIV stigma and homophobia.
Violence has impacted our communities through intentional acts and also through the act of neglect. Violence affecting trans communities includes cuts to social spending, and the depletion of the social safety net.
Violence impacting trans people includes the ever decreasing pool of social services that leaves marginalized members of society struggling on their own without affordable housing, access to nutritious food, access to necessary health care services, and sympathy from a Canadian government that deports trans women and men to their countries of origin even when violence will be waiting for them on their homelands.
The impact of violence on the trans communities is pervasive. For many the vulnerability is constant.
More information
- Our lives do matter, Trans Day of Remembrance 2015.
- “YOU WILL NOT ERASE US” Nichola Ward reflects on Trans Day of Remembrance.
- DES studies on gender identity and psychological health.
- Our posts tagged intersex and transgender.