Mr. Speaker, today I rise to mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance and call attention to the 368 trans and gender diverse people who were murdered this past year and the more than 3,000 killed over the last decade worldwide.
While Canada has explicitly recognized trans and gender diverse rights, policy changes on the ground and social acceptance lag far behind. Still, most places around the world remain much less safe than here.
One of the highest rates of violence against trans and gender diverse people is found in Central America. We learned last week that within the caravan headed toward the U.S. border was a mini caravan of LGBTQ people, primarily made up of trans women. Due to the extreme threat of violence facing this group, we call on Mexico to ensure their safety, we call on the U.S. to allow these asylum claims to be heard and we call for international monitoring of the continued safety of this group, now at the U.S.-Mexico border.
On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, while we mourn lives lost, let us also salute and find strength in the bravery and resilience of this community.