Trans Day Of Remembrance

In the wake of Remembrance Day, another event occurs each year to commemorate lives lost, though with considerably less fanfare.  This past friday was Trans Day of Remembrance, a day to recognize the violent acts committed against Transgender people.  Trans Day of Remembrance was started in the US 17 years ago, after trans woman Rita Hester was murdered in her home.  Despite the improvements in awareness of trans issues, the rates of hate crimes against trans people are still obscenely high.

According to National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, a data collected from 16 US states showed that 72% of the victims of all reported hate murders in 2013 were trans women, a status that seems to incur ridiculously amounts of hatred.  Transgender people are twice as likely to be unemployed than cisgender people (those whose sex assigned at birth matches their gender).  In the workplace, 90% of trans people reported being harassed or discriminated against.

A noteworthy group for trans (as well as other LGBTQ) teens between the ages of 13 and 21 is Youth For A Change, a group founded in 2012 for the purpose of offering support to teens in need.  They work in the area of education, visiting schools to inform students about queer issues, healthy relationships, and queer-inclusive sex-ed.  Youth For A Change has also helped in formulating school board policies to protect queer students.  For the past year, they have partnered with QUIRKE, a writing collective for queer elders, to exchange prompts and written pieces.  The project is in the process of being published as an anthology.

Youth For A Change holds open meetings on monday nights from 6:30 to 8:30, during which anyone can drop in.  The meetings are held at the Newton Youth Resource Centre, on 76th Avenue and and just off King George.  Any member of the LGBTQ community within the age bracket is welcome to attend.