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themaskedmuskequeers-blog · 7 years ago

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TMMQ & TDoR

Trans Day of Remembrance is the 20th of November every year. A day set aside to remember all the transgender people who have lost their lives to murder or suicide in the past year.

Between the start of 2008 and the end of 2016, there were 2343 reported murders of trans and gender-diverse people worldwide.

1834 of these murders were in Central and South America.

In the U.K. there have been 8 murders during this time period.

To remember the transgender people who have lost their lives in the U.K. and to raise awareness of TDoR & the issues faced by transgender people, these remembrance plaques were pasted up:

Here are the deaths included in the plaques, each with a short description;

Kenneth Crowe

1913-1950

Kenneth Crowe, an English schoolteacher, aged 37, was found dead on 31 July 1950 in Rotherham, wearing their wife's clothes and a wig. Kenneth had approached a minor on the way home from the pub, who upon discovering Crowe was male, beat and strangled them. John Cooney was found not guilty of murder and sentenced to five years for manslaughter.

Robyn Brown

1974-1997

Robyn Brown, a 23-year-old sex worker, was found stabbed to death in her flat in London on 28 February 1997. The original report described her as being 23-year-old Gemma Browne, formerly James Darwin Browne. The case went cold for over ten years, but her killer, James Hopkins, was eventually caught; in January 2009 he was jailed for life. The report found that identifying her to the public using different names may have hampered attempts to connect with relevant communities.

Kellie Telesford

1967-2007

In 2007 Kellie Telesford was found dead in her flat, strangled by her own scarf. A date she had met three days previously was accused of her murder. He had stolen her phone and oyster card, but he was found not guilty of murder.

Destiny Lauren

1980-2009

Destiny Lauren, a 29-year-old sex worker was found strangled in her home in London in 2009. Her 22-year-old killer was caught after leaving his coat behind and was sentenced to life in prison.

Andrea Waddell

1980-2009

In 2009, Andrea Waddell was found strangled in her flat in Brighton. She was murdered by a 42-year-old man that she met for sex. It is unclear as to the motive for the murder, whether the man discovered she was transgender or because she was unable to perform sexually for him due to illness. The man was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Sonia Burgess

1947-2010

During rush hour one October morning at Kings Cross station in 2010, Nina Kanagasingham pushed her friend and prominent human rights lawyer, Sonia Burgess in front of train. Both women were transgender, Sonia had been helping Nina with her transition when she began to experience a psychotic episode. Nina was cleared of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and sentenced to life for manslaughter.

Suzie Morl

1962-2011

When investigating a neighbours’ burglary in 2011, police discovered a decomposing body stuffed into a suitcase. The body, later idetified to be that of Suzie Morl had been stabbed and savagely beaten. The couple who lived in the flat had been claiming her benefits.

Chrissie Azzopardi

1990-2012

Chrissie was murdered at age 22 over drug debts, months before she was due to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

Lucy Meadows

1981-2013

In 2013, Lucy Meadows, a primary school teacher was outed by the press as a transgender woman. This, and the following events lead to her suicide.

Vicky Thompson

1994-2015

Vicky Thompson, a 21-year-old transgender female was sent to serve time in a male prison. She asked to be sent to a female prison, and friends reported her saying she would kill herself if sent to a male prison. Shortly after being sent to prison, Vicky was found dead in her cell.

Joanne Latham

1977-2015

Weeks after Thompson’s death, Joanne Latham also committed suicide in her cell, in an all-male prison.

Vanessa Santillon

1982-2015

In January 2015, Vanessa and her husband moved to London from Mexico in search of a new life. Two months later her husband strangled and beat her to death, resenting the fact that he had to rely on her for money.

William Lound

1986-2016

In 2016, 30-year-old William Lound was found outside his halls of residence at the University of Salford after being stabbed to death in suspected transphobic hate crime.

Jenny Swift

1967-2016

Arrested and placed in a male prison, Jenny became depressed after being denied her HRT. Weeks later she was found dead in her cell after commtting suicide.

Trans History U.K.

TDoR doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom though, it’s also a day to revisit the rich history of gender diversity and how far we have come.

This piece teaches people about some of the most famous transgender U.K. icons, thier lives, and whet they have done for gender equality. You can also learn a little about what times were like when people began to express their gender more openly.

Have fun learning about transgender history, and take a moment to remember all those who have lost their lives.

Pride

Finally, the last thing we want to remind you is to be proud of who you are, so we went and poured a massive trans pride flag off the roof of a building (with much appreciated help from other local artists).

STAY QUEER Y’ALL!

More info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significant_acts_of_violence_against_LGBT_people#United_Kingdom

http://transrespect.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TvT_TMM_TDoV2017_Tables_EN.pdf

https://lgbthistoryuk.org/wiki/Trans_Day_of_Remembrance

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