Transgender Day of Remembrance

“Being Transgender is not a choice. Choosing to hurt someone is.”

About the Transgender Day of Remembrance

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender – that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.

Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. The Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that transgender people are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers.

History of the Transgender Day of Remembrance

The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Transgender in Lithuania

Article 2.27 of the Civil Code allows any non-married person to change legal gender if this is medically possible. The second paragraph states, however, that the procedures for changing gender should be led according to a separate law. In 2007 Lithuania lost the case L vs. Lithuania in the European Court of Human Rights. The ruling obligated Lithuania to pass a law regulating the procedure and conditions of gender reassignment, which Lithuania has subsequently ignored. Moreover, there have been several attempts by members of parliament to solve the legal vacuum by prohibiting gender reassignment completely.

LGL wants to increase the visibility of transgender persons in Lithuania. Therefore LGL filmed two videos for its social campaign „#TRANS_LT“. The videos feature the members of the local trans* community sharing the challenges they face due to the non-existing procedure of legal gender recognition in Lithuania and inviting the viewers to sign a special online petition. Read more about the action here.

Source: tdor.info