Dear Friends:
On this, the eleventh annual Day of Remembrance, we are part of a global movement to honor those who have died. We mourn our fallen sisters and brothers who have become the victims of hatred and prejudice and we commit ourselves to doing what it takes to prevent others from joining their ranks. We pause to acknowledge the loss we all suffer because these people are no longer sharing their gifts, their laughter, their struggles, their work and their lives with our world. We decry the many forms of discrimination-racism, sexism, economic injustice, ageism, and so many more-that compound the transphobia and homophobia we face and make some among us even more vulnerable to violence.
We must continue to state loudly and clearly that transgender people will never willingly be relegated to the status of victim. Transgender people and our families, friends and allies are standing up effectively, working for public policies that emphasize both the need to prevent these horrific crimes as well as holding accountable those who commit them. We are speaking out daily, educating law enforcement, co-workers, family members, policy makers and our neighbors about the realities of our lives and helping transform their prejudice into understanding. We are advocating boldly for anti-discrimination laws that will allow transgender people to get and keep jobs, improving the quality of our lives and keeping us safe.
Today we also particularly want to thank everyone who has worked for so many years to organize and host the Transgender Day of Remembrance events around the country, providing a space for our grief and our resolution to end this violence. We also recognize those who engage in anti-violence work, seeking real solutions to the conflicts in our world and providing comfort to those harmed by violence. We honor everyone who worked to make it clear that violence is never an acceptable answer to differences and will not be tolerated in the places we live and work.
There is still so much to do. Tonight, let our pain at these terrible losses fuel our determination to continue our work building a world that is safe for transgender people to live, to thrive, and just to be.
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