A march planned on 19 November, the Memorial Day for Trans Victims of Hate Crimes in Italy, will be dedicated to Hande Kader, a trans woman who was murdered in Turkey in the summer. Turkey’s Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) Associations will also participate in a related congress

Hande Kader, a trans woman and activist who was murdered in Turkey in a recent example of continuing gender violence in Turkey, will be honored this weekend when organizers in Turin march in her name as part of the Memorial Day for Trans Victims of Hate Crimes.

“We are dedicating this year’s march to our friend [Hande Kader] to stand against the oppression, violence, ostracization from society, coercion to live in fear, discrimination, moves that direct trans individuals toward forced sex work and policies rendering such people invisible and to draw attention to the difficult conditions for [trans people] in Turkey and around the whole world,” the LGBT Turin Pride Coordination team said in a statement ahead of the planned march on 19 November.

“Our goal in organizing a march on this day is to show everyone that we, who are portrayed in a different fashion in the media, are present in this city,” the coordinating team said.

“The victims of transphobia are not just us, the people’s whose names we will read out during the march or our friends whom we have lost,” they said. “At the same time, it’s also the individuals who cannot rent a house, find a job or who are subjected to insults every day because they are trans.”

The Turin coordinating team does not just focus on Gay Pride, but also on transphobia, homophobia, racism, discrimination, as well as a number of other rights violations, while also fighting for access through a variety of methods.

The march will begin on 19 November 16.30 at Turin’s Vittorio Veneto Square, finishing at the Catello Square. On the following day, an “International Trans Problems” congress will be held with the participation of representatives of Turkey’s Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) Association.

The mutilated and burnt body of Kader, 22, was found in the upscale district of Zekeriyaköy a week after she was seen getting into a car in Harbiye, central Istanbul. Kader had resisted against Turkish regime forces as they tried to prevent a Pride March from occurring in central Istanbul in 2015.

The Memorial Day was established in 1998 following the murder of trans African-American woman Rita Hester in Boston. Hester was stabbed 20 times at her home; two weeks later, a candlelit march was organized in her honor.

Sendika.Org/Italy