Blog: How we commemorated trans individuals at Transgender Day of Remembrance 2024

Written by Clem Atkins (Student EDI Ambassador)

Content Note: transphobia, violence, death

The 20 November marks International Transgender Day of Remembrance. This annual event commemorates members of the transgender community across the globe who have lost their lives due to intolerance and targeted violence. This year, student and staff gathered for the Transgender Remembrance Service within the University of Birmingham's Multi-Faith Chaplaincy to honour their lives and memories.

I had the honour of being invited as a student speaker at the event for the second year. The service was led by Reverend Mindy Bell, in collaboration with the Rainbow Network and our Student EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) team. The service saw many coming together in solidarity: members of various faiths, individuals of all ages, transgender and cisgender, individuals from the LGBTQ+ community and our allies.

This year's service featured the reading of a total of 410 recorded names of people whose lives were lost to violence from the period of October 2023 to September 2024 world-wide. In the absence of details, many individuals were simply listed as 'name unknown'.

There were also a selection of art pieces and poetry excerpts by LGBTQ+ creators rread during the service including Elri Vaughan’s beautiful and haunting poem called ‘Name Unknown’ which explored how transgender people are often marginalised in life and death, as well as my own poem ‘Man-Made’ which I wrote in hospital whilst I recovered from gender affirming top surgery (a double mastectomy). It uses my personal experiences to examine the ways in which violent language and metaphors are used to our objectify and demonise transgender men's bodies.

After the service, individuals were invited to stay in the chaplaincy to connect with other attendees over tea and biscuits. This was a welcome chance to have discussion about how the service had emotionally resonated with us. Reverend Mindy had placed a decorative tree in the room and attendees were encouraged to ask themselves what they could do to support our transgender siblings over the next year and to share these thoughts by adding handwritten paper leaves to the tree.

Overall, despite the sombre nature, the service and readings were thought-provoking, emotional, painful, challenging, but also hopeful and uplifting as we collectively imagined a vision of a better world without transphobic violence and intolerance.

Wellbeing support:

If you are affected by the themes discussed here, there are a number of different places that can provide both social and welfare support. These include your Wellbeing Officers, Guild of Students LGBTQ+ Student groups and your Guild Student Officers.

If you need to speak to someone urgently, UBHeard is a confidential listening and support service that gives you immediate emotional and mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Birmingham LGBT in the City Centre has various forms of support, including counselling and drop-in sessions.

The Multi-Faith Chaplaincy is an inclusive space for prayer, meditation, relaxation and worship, among other community-based activities. Everyone is welcome whether you're religious or not.