Transgender Day of Remembrance

Caroline Russell AM moved, and Andrew Boff AM seconded the following motion:

"This Assembly recognises the upcoming Transgender Day of Remembrance on 20 November 2025. We share this day to honour people who have tragically lost their lives through horrific anti-trans violence. We remember people such as Brianna Ghey and Naomi Hersi, among many others, whose deaths reflect the ongoing violence and discrimination that trans people face. Trans Day of Remembrance also honours the lives of those lost to suicide, including trans activists such as Elie Che and Sophie Williams. 

It is indisputable that Trans+ people are vulnerable to anti-trans violence, hate crime and discrimination. It is important to acknowledge that when we speak of hate crime we are not speaking of low-level crimes of discrimination, we are speaking of actual violence against a small, already marginalised population of people. In this increasingly hostile climate, trans and gender nonconforming people are finding it harder to navigate even the most basic aspects of daily life. Many trans and gender non-conforming people are harassed and attacked when using public toilets, often avoiding them due to fear of this harassment. Trans people have reported being spat on or verbally abused in these spaces, and there have been increasing incidents of such attacks since the UK Supreme Court’s recent ruling. 

In London, transphobic hate crimes have more than doubled over the past five years, one in four trans people have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives and transgender adults are also twice as likely to be unemployed as cisgender adults. According to the Trans Mental Health Study, around 48 per cent of trans adults have attempted suicide, while poor experiences within the healthcare system have led 57 per cent of trans people to avoid seeking medical help even when they are unwell. 

We call on the Mayor to work with the Minister for Women and Equalities to continue to raise the issues the GLA found with the Supreme Court ruling, and the subsequent negative impact on the GLA’s ability to meet its public sector duties through its work with external partners. 

We also call on the Mayor to make a commitment that the GLA family of organisations will remain inclusive employers and public sector partners to the thousands of SMEs, charities, CICs, business groups it both works with and helps to fund."

Following debate, and upon being put to a vote, this motion was agreed by 13 votes for and 6 votes against.