Presumptive President-elect Joe Biden marked “Transgender Day of Remembrance” with a statement on Friday, promising to listen to and fight for the transgender community.
Biden said 2020 has been “the most violent year on record” for the transgender community.
“At least 37 transgender and gender-nonconforming people have been killed this year, most of them Black and Brown transgender women. It’s intolerable,” Biden tweeted.
“On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor their lives — and recommit to the work that remains to ensure that every transgender and gender-nonconforming person in America has the opportunity to live authentically, earn a living wage, and be treated with dignity and respect in their communities and workplaces,” Biden added in a statement.
To transgender and gender-nonconforming people across America and around the world: from the moment I am sworn in as president, know that my administration will see you, listen to you, and fight for not only your safety but also the dignity and justice you have been denied.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 20, 2020
Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance held on Nov. 20 to honor “the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence,” according to GLAAD.
Data analysis released by Everytown for Gun Safety ahead of this year’s observance revealed that 2020 could be the deadliest year for the transgender and gender non-conforming community.
The gun violence prevention advocacy group tracked 29 deaths so far this year, four more than the 25 killings it tracked in 2019.
“It’s clear that ending gun violence must include ending anti-trans violence,” Sarah Burd-Sharps, the group’s research director, said.
“Guns don’t cause homophobia or transphobia, but they make that hate more deadly.”
According to the advocacy group, at least 37 transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot or killed by other violent means.
“Transgender rights are human rights,” Biden said.
“To transgender and gender-nonconforming people across America and around the world: from the moment I am sworn in as president of the United States, know that my administration will see you, listen to you, and fight for not only your safety but also the dignity and justice you have been denied.”
Presumptive Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris also marked the day to remember the people who have died this year in a statement on Twitter.
On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor the memory of the at least 37 transgender or gender-nonconforming people killed this year—the majority of whom were Black and Latinx transgender women.
Today and every day we must recommit to ending this epidemic. #TDOR
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 20, 2020
“Today and every day we must recommit to ending this epidemic,” she tweeted.
Leave a Comment