Today, Wednesday 20th November, is International Trans Day of Remembrance. On this day each year trans people and their allies around the world gather to hold candlelight vigils in commemoration of everyone who has died as a result of transphobic hatred. Later, when evening falls, our local trans community and allies will come together outside our Scottish Parliament to remember those we’ve lost.

“We cannot leave anyone out in the cold”

That we keep vigil for those lives each year feels as pertinent as ever. It won’t only be the November chill our candles glow against – their steady flicker will stand testament to the solidarity of activists working to secure equality and liveable lives for all marginalised groups including trans people.  At LGBT Health, we have been deeply saddened to see transphobia reflected through our media, our parliament and online because we know how it harms health and, in those extreme but too frequent cases, ends lives. We have shivered at attempts to push trans people into the cold amidst worries that the rights of all protected groups cannot be met at the same time. The fact is, we cannot leave anyone out in the cold – and the names that will be read aloud around the world this evening are a testament to this truth.

Impact on the wellbeing of trans people

Through the variety of work we do, we take opportunities to highlight the things that chronically threaten the lives of trans people – hate crime, intimate partner violence, suicide. We talk to services and decision-makers about the fact that experiences of violence and the staggeringly high rates of depression and anxiety are not inevitable.  If trans lives are accepted and valued, these trends will weaken without the social messages underpinning them.  There will be less prejudice; trans people will be able to find and maintain the positive sense of identity that can take so much work to arrive at and yet is so necessary for health.

Misrepresentation in the media

We are in no doubt about the connections between the conversation ‘out there’ and trans people’s experiences of mental ill-health and emotional distress. There is frequent and sensational media coverage misrepresenting trans lives, and efforts to re-imagine the rights of people with trans identities. It makes our work with trans people – centred on nurturing self-acceptance, supporting improvements in mental health and overall wellbeing, and reducing the isolation that can keep this small and very marginalised group at massive risk – feel like swimming upstream.

Trans people have strong allies

• Equality allies

  But we are warmed by those who are standing with us and by the roaring commitment to equality that has galvanised organisations and activists around the country. This keeps us hopeful that we are still living during the emergence of a more accepting society that values the wellbeing of all. We are grateful for every trans-inclusive statement that extends welcome space to our community, and we appreciate the work being done to create and hold safe space for well-intentioned people of all identities.

• Feminist allies

  In particular of course, we are learning that the feminist project of improving the lives of all women and challenging patriarchy in its many and complex forms is alive and well where it matters most – on the ground.  Our national feminist organisations have repeatedly called out transphobia and highlighted both the practicability and necessity of trans inclusive feminism. Meeting the needs of all women who reach out for support during vulnerable times in their lives has remained the focus for frontline women’s services.

Progress for everyone

Theirs is the example to follow. We believe in continually progressing rights for all protected groups simultaneously. For us, this project must centre the practical wisdom of those delivering rights on the ground. We must keep focussed on building the spaces and structures which are capable of keeping everyone in – that is, out of the cold that is prejudice, hate, depression and isolation.  We need the warmth of progress so that the people we are burning candles for, get fewer as the years go by.

Candlelight vigil at Scottish Parliament: join us in support of trans rights

This evening’s candlelight vigil is a partnership between Scottish Trans Alliance, Equality Network, Stonewall Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, Pink Saltire, Trans Masculine Scotland, Non-Binary Edinburgh, NUS Scotland, The WOW Network, The Young Women’s Movement, Rainbow Greens, Out For Independence, Waverley Care, THT Scotland, HIV Scotland, and SX Scotland.

If you host a trans-inclusive space or service our community should know about, we would love to hear from you. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter:
@lgbthealthy  #TransformOurHealth