Kathmandu (Pahichan) November 23 – Trans people are defined in many ways\u00a0\u2013 by our gender identities, our gender expressions, our personal experiences of embodiment, our interactions with medical and legal systems, our positions on transgressing or preserving sexual difference, and more.\u00a0 While trans experiences and identities vary among individuals and cultures, one especially pervasive and pernicious experience transcends identities and borders violence.<\/p>\n
\u00a0A defining characteristic of what it means to be a trans person today is to know that anywhere, at any time, for any reason, we \u2013 or those close to us – could become a victim of violence. Every November 20th<\/sup>, trans people and their allies gather for International Trans Day of Remembrance to memorialize those we have lost to hatred and prejudice.<\/p>\n \u201cRemembrance\u201d means remembering something that has happened in the<\/em> past.<\/strong>\u00a0Unfortunately, though, violence \u2013 and the fear of violence \u2013 is not a relic of history. While remembering our dead, trans people know that\u00a0we<\/em>\u00a0could have been\u00a0them<\/em>; that we still can be them.\u00a0Every time we remember the past we know that we could be naming our future.<\/p>\n Throughout the world, trans people struggle for our names to be recognized by our families, our communities, and the State. The challenges that we have faced \u2013 and continue to face \u2013 as trans people to enjoy this very basic human right to identity will never be forgotten. As we struggle to be recognized for who we are, we know that we risk having our hard-earned names turn up in the news or a report on human rights violations, wronged by the press, or being among those remembered on the next November 20th<\/sup>. We know it as it is. Our names are an affirmation of hope, but they also contain the possibility of violence against us.<\/p>\n