London to hold annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

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The ninth annual remembrance event in London for those murdered and driven to death for being transgender will be held on Wednesday as part of International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR).

It’s taking place at the University of London Union on Malet Street, Bloomsbury, from 7pm.

The keynote address will be given by Paris Lees, journalist and broadcaster.

Speakers include Roz Kaveney, Jon Gierson and Natacha Kennedy, with music from Yui Karlberg and Naechané Valantino.

Organised by London TransDiversity, the London International Trans Day of Remembrance is a non-political, non-profit event hosted by, and for, trans people. Campaigners say all trans and gender-diverse people, as well as their friends and allies, are welcome to attend.

As part of TDoR, vigils and memorial events will be staged across the UK and around the world.

TDoR first started in 1998, following the murder of Rita Hester, a transgender African American woman in Massachusetts.

International statistics compiled by the Trans Respect Monitoring Project released last week identified 238 trans people murdered across the world in the past 12 months.

However, campaigners warn the true figure is likely to be higher as transphobic crime remains underreported – and not all jurisdictions document or treat the cases accordingly.