Matthew Rodgriguez | them
Nov 20, 20233 min
A member of the transgender and LGBTQ community during the vigil of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, in Kampala, Uganda in 2019.SUMY SADRUNI/Getty Images
Trigger warning: This post discusses anti-trans violence and murder.
Tiffany Banks of Miami, Florida. Ximena Madrid Flores of Teotihuacán, Mexico. Maria Fernanda Hilton of São Paulo, Brazil. These are just three names included in a list of trans people worldwide who were killed in the past 12 months and today, we say their names.
Released alongside Trans Awareness Week and just prior to Trans Day of Remembrance, a new report from Transgender Europe has found that 321 trans and gender-diverse people were killed between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023. The Trans Murder Monitoring 2023 report is from Transgender Europe’s Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide initiative, an ongoing quantitative research project to provide information on the violence trans people face globally. Alongside the aggregate data, TE has also released a PDF of each person’s name, some details about them, and information about their deaths.
The number of people killed during the last year (321) is very close to the previous year’s total of 327, showing that “deadly violence against trans people remains at a consistently high level,” according to the report. Of those 321 people, 236 were killed in Latin America and the Caribbean, while the very first anti-trans murders were recorded in Armenia, Belgium, and Slovakia. While almost three-quarters of the 321 killings were reported in Latin America, almost one-third occurred in Brazil alone.
Aside from gathering the names listed, Transgender Europe also pointed out trends within the data, including that 94% of those killed were trans women or transfeminine people. Of those whose occupation was known, almost half were sex workers. And about 80% of the 321 were people of color, or affected by racism. In Europe, of the trans people killed whose migration background was known, 45% were migrants or refugees.
Overall, according to Transgender Europe, the data show “concerning trends” that reveal that trans women who are living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities are most at risk of violence. Aside from transphobia, many trans women deal with misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and anti-sex work attitudes.
Transgender Europe reports that the high number of murders reported in Latin America and the Caribbean is a result of strong networks of LGBTQ+ organizations in those regions. Because these reporting networks are set up to monitor the killings, they more often lead to news of a person’s death. TE also pointed out that the list does not represent the true number of trans people killed worldwide, given that many are not out when they die and that when it comes to murders of trans people, “most cases worldwide” go unreported.
Trans Day of Remembrance is an annual observance meant to honor and commemorate the victims of transphobic violence. The first one was held in 1999 to honor the lives of Rita Hester and Chanelle Pickett. Media reports of Hester’s death misgendered her and the day was meant to honor who she was as a trans woman. A few months prior to her death, Hester had written to a Boston newspaper about the killing of Chanelle Picket, which also happened in November, leading to that month being chosen for the day.