Madam Speaker, today I stand to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance, and I call attention to the 375 trans and gender-diverse people murdered last year, and the nearly 4,000 people killed over the past decade worldwide just for being themselves. These numbers are a glimpse of the harassment, discrimination, violence and undocumented deaths of transgender people happening worldwide.
Despite this, I am profoundly moved by the strength of so many transgender people. On this day, I am thinking fondly of an amazing transgender woman named Melanie. Melanie describes her experience to me before transitioning as being full of struggles to get through each day in a body that was not her own. After transitioning later in life, Melanie is now happily remarried and living as her true self.
Today I call on members of the House to unite in showing transgender people, with action, that they are not alone and deserve safety, dignity and respect.