Spektra on Transphobia Remembrance Day: Trans lives remain chronically neglected

Although trans lives stand on the front lines of social struggles today, they remain chronically neglected, marginalized, and abused in order to mask the real problems that are leading our society into the abyss, the Spectrum Association announced today.

Spektra said this on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Transphobia (TDOR), along with regional organizations Trans Network Balkan and Talas - TIRV, warning of the increase in violence against trans people, growing repression and the increasingly visible collapse of democratic space, both in Montenegro and the region.

According to them, the reality that right-wing narratives are being normalized within the ruling structures, while decades of work by communities and organizations advocating for human rights are being systematically underestimated and rendered meaningless, is also worrying.

"Despite our constant warnings, the messages we send to the Government remain strategically ignored. Even today, on Remembrance Day, we do not expect any of the authorities to look at the global data (281 recorded cases of murder of transgender people last year worldwide, according to the Trans Murder Monitoring, the umbrella European and Central Asian organization TGEU), to see the real situation, or to understand that by inciting hatred, intolerance, disinformation and political manipulation - while simultaneously blocking all vital regulations and laws - our region is sliding towards serious consequences for not only the safety of the trans community, but also for democracy," the statement reads.

They added that the fact is that "we do not live in a vacuum," and that when a group is targeted as a threat, when its basic human rights, and above all, its humanity itself, are taken away, the consequences are not abstract, but deadly.

Spektra added that since the beginning of global monitoring in 2009, the Western Balkans region has recorded four murders of trans people: three in Serbia and one in Albania, which, according to them, indicates that this reality is closer to us than it seems.

"Yet, for almost fifteen years, our institutions have not done enough to ensure that trans people stop being targets of systemic, institutional, economic and health violence. This represents a defeat for the state and its representatives who do not treat their citizens as people, but as hostages of personal interests," the statement said.

They said that, at the same time, it is clear that trans people have become a symbol of a broader social crisis.

"A symbol of what happens when democracy weakens, when voices are silenced, when minorities are targeted to cover up the consequences of failed policies and the disintegration of the system. In the last three years, the percentage of murdered trans activists in global figures has doubled. This data shows that the fight for the human rights of trans people is not only a matter of equality but also of survival, and of an attempt to extinguish the truth as a value they lived by by taking their lives," said Spektra, adding that despite everything, trans people remain an example of resilience, dignity, solidarity and an incorruptible fight for a better society.

"We are not, and have never been, just victims. Our consistency is living proof of resistance, justice, love, and hope that a different, sustainable and just world is not only possible, but that we can build it every day with collective resistance," the statement concludes.