I wanted to post this to make it clear that the Trans Day of Remembrance is a worldwide event. India has a tradition of trans women in its society stretching back at least 2,000 years. It is hard to say how well accepted they were throughout that period, but they were most definitely there. What we do know is that the British conquest made their lives much more difficult. There were 6 trans murders in India last year, and 7 in Pakistan. Britain has to take some of the blame for that.

That picture is taken from this article on the fine Indian feminist blog, The Ladies Finger. The article, by Nadika Nadja, makes the very good point that we need a day to celebrate trans lives as well as one to mourn them. That, in theory, is what the Trans Day of Visibility is all about, but of course so many trans people have no desire to be visible. Maybe next year we can find a way of celebrating it that doesn’t make those it is supposed to be helping uncomfortable.