What is worth knowing about Transgender Remembrance Day and violence against transgender people

Wednesday is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which focuses on transgender people who have lost their lives to violence. Here’s what you need to know.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed every year on November 20 and began in 1999 to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in Massachusetts.

This day marks the end of Transgender Awareness Week, which aims to raise public awareness of the transgender community and the issues they face.

The Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles estimates that there are more than one and a half million transgender people aged 13 and older in the United States. The study also shows that transgender people are more than four times more likely to experience violence than other people.

Candlelight vigils, memorials and other events are held to mark this day. The Human Rights Campaign also published its document annual report regarding the deaths of transgender people in connection with this day.

International Transgender Day of Visibilitywhich aims to draw attention to transgender people, is celebrated in March.

In its annual report, the Human Rights Campaign said at least 36 transgender people died as a result of violence in the 12 months since last Remembrance Day. Since 2013, the organization has recorded the violent deaths of 372 victims who were transgender and gender expansive – which refers to people with a more flexible range of gender identity or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system.

The death toll is likely higher because many deaths often go unreported or are misreported, or misgendering of victims leads to delays in identifying them.

The Human Rights Campaign said there was a slight increase on the previous year, when at least 33 transgender people were identified as victims of violence.

A large number of victims traced over the past year were young or people of color, with half of the 36 identified being Black transgender women. The youngest identified victim was 14 years old Pauly Compares from Pennsylvania.

The organization reported that two-thirds of fatalities were firearm-related. Nearly a third of victims with a known killer were killed by an intimate partner, friend or family member.

This year’s observance marks an election in which supporters claim victories for President-elect Donald Trump and other GOP candidates who focused on issues such as transgender athletes inflicted defeat for the rights of trans people.

It also follows a wave of measures introduced this year in Republican states restricting the rights of transgender people, especially youth.

Half of states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. The United States Supreme Court next month, he is scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s ban.

Supporters say the legislation and rhetoric creates fewer safe spaces for transgender people and fear it could spark more violence against transgender people.