The ACLU’s Trans Rights Quilt on the National Mall in May 2025. (Washington Blade Photo by Michael Key)
New data on violence against transgender people in the U.S. shows there have been at least 399 cases of fatal violence against trans people since 2013, including 27 murders in the past year alone, with no indication the trend is slowing.
In recognition of Transgender Day of Remembrance, several organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and Advocates for Trans Equality, released updated reports documenting the disproportionate levels of violence targeting trans people, often because of their gender identity.
A4TE’s Remembrance Report, released Nov. 13, identifies at least 27 trans people known to have died by violence since November 2024.
TDoR, established on Nov. 20, 1999, by trans rights activists, honors the lives lost to anti-trans violence and brings attention to the ongoing crisis disproportionately affecting trans people who are also members of other marginalized communities.
The newly released data shows that 82.3 percent of all known fatal attacks targeted trans women; seven in 10 victims since 2013 were Black, and 71.2 percent of deaths involved firearms.
Fatal violence is not confined to any one region.
The states with the highest numbers of cases include Texas (9.8 percent), Florida (8.3 percent), California (7.1 percent), Georgia (6.1 percent), Louisiana (5.8 percent), Ohio (5.5 percent), Pennsylvania (5 percent), Illinois (4.8 percent), Maryland (4.5 percent), and North Carolina (4 percent).
The report also highlights the pervasive non-fatal discrimination trans people face.
Four in 10 trans and gender-expansive adults experienced discrimination in the past year based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity/expression.
This data comes as the Trump-Vance administration escalates its anti-trans policies within the military, as the Washington Blade reported last week. The report calls for an end to anti-trans rhetoric, misinformation, and discriminatory policies at every level of government — from federal agencies to local school boards — noting that only then will trans people achieve the safety routinely afforded to other Americans.
HRC Director for Strategic Outreach and Training Tori Cooper stressed that the issue is about real people, not statistics.
“Our transgender and gender nonconforming siblings deserve to live safe, fulfilling, joyful lives, just like every other member of our society,” Cooper said. “But this plague of violence is robbing us of so much; so many dear friends and loved ones gone too soon, especially Black trans women who continue to bear the worst of this epidemic. Our entire trans community bears the scars of these horrible losses, and it is time for our leaders to ensure that trans people, and all people, are protected by the same policies and procedures. Our lives are as valuable as everyone else.”
HRC President Kelley Robinson also spoke to the rise in violence.
“Every person deserves to feel safe, to be treated with dignity, and to live their truth without fear,” Robinson said. “The annual release of this crucial report, which honors the beloved members of the transgender and gender nonconforming community who have been taken from us in the past year, is a somber and devastating reminder of why our fight for that dream continues.”
Robinson criticized how the current political climate has worsened conditions for trans Americans.
“This year, these deaths are punctuated by a political movement and powerful politicians who have fanned the flames of hate and are driving our trans siblings even further to the margins of society, all as part of a misguided, cynical attempt to divide and conquer the country. Every anti-equality politician, from Donald Trump and his Cabinet, to those in Congress and state legislatures, needs to see these numbers, see these names and faces, and see the cost of the cruelty they have greenlit,” she said.
Robinson concluded by reaffirming HRC’s commitment to defending trans people regardless of who occupies the White House.
“HRC will continue to do everything in our power to fight for our trans siblings, hold hateful politicians to account, and build a world where reports like this are no longer needed,” she said.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
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