Memorial Collection
MEMORIAL: LOST BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
This collection of artefacts is a tragic reminder of the real-life cost of transphobia.
In its 2023 Annual review of the human rights situation of lesbian gay bisexual trans and intersex people in the United Kingdom, The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Europe), noted that anti-trans rhetoric continued to cause serious damage in the UK. The same year, the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity stated that both government authorities and civil society representatives had reported UK news media and social media channels to be ‘spreading anti-trans discourse and stereotypical imagery of LGBT persons as dangerous, often employing homophobic and transphobic rhetoric’.
The most recent Home Office statistics showed that the number of hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022 rose by 26%. Crimes against trans people saw the biggest rise, with 4355 reports, up 56% from the previous year. A study published by the Scottish Government in 2021 found that in the period between 2014/15 and 2019/20, ‘the number of transgender identity aggravated hate crimes has doubled’. The picture is not dissimilar in Northern Ireland where homophobic and transphobic hate crimes are reported to be at an all-time high.
As reported in the Trans-Inclusive Culture: Guidance on advancing trans inclusion for museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations, 2024.
The Memorial Collection
- Barbara Ross Order of Service Funeral MOT/2024/NDOTC/NORW/031
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Categories
- Memorial, Photographs
- Place
- Norfolk Heritage Centre, Norwich
The image shows a funeral program for Barbara Ross, dated March 6, 2015.
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Barbara Ross Order of Service Memorial
MOT/2024/NDOTC/NORW/030
Tag Barbara Ross (1929 - 2015) began her career in gender counselling in 1974. Ross founded the Norfolk-based Gender Identity Services, and founded OASIS (a support group for trans people and loved ones) by the early 80s. In 2001, she organised the first Internationaal Transgender Conference at the University of East Anglia. In 2011, she was awarded an OBE for "services to Gender Dysphoria."
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Categories
- Memorial, Photographs
- Place
- Norfolk Heritage Centre, Norwich
A memorial service flyer commemorates Barbara Ross OBE held on April 10th.
- Bouquet Of Flowers MOT001003
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- Collection
- Main Collection
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Description
- Pink, blue, and white rose bouqet with 9 tags. Large bouquet of pink, blue and white fake roses with the stems tied together with pink, blue and white ribbons. There are nine tags hanging from the bouquet. Four have printed stickers that say "Trans Rights Now", "Let Trans Youth Bloom" and "Don"t Support Terfs". Two have handwritten messages by the donor "Trans Liberation Now!" and "Rest in Peace Brianna" (with a attached small photograph of Brianna Ghey).
A bouquet of flowers which are fake roses in trans flag colours, tied up with the same coloured ribbons.
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Bright Pink Plushie Birdo
MOT/2024/NDOTC/EDIN/053
Tag Plushie Owned by a trans woman who died to young [Formatting note: There is a sad face :( in the "Y" of the word "Young"]
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Dimensions
- Height 200 mm Width 100 mm Depth 140 mm
A pink plushie toy of Birdo holding a ball. With a brown, handwritten luggage tag.
- Candles In The Shape Of A 1 And 6, Spelling 16) From The London Brianna Ghey Vigil MOT000981
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- Collection
- Main Collection
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Description
- Candles (in the shape of a 1 and 6, spelling 16) from the London Brianna Ghey Vigil
- Dimensions
- Height 12 cm Width 6 cm
Two candles, one '1' and one '6' to spell '16'. The candles are rainbow coloured.
- Funeral Service For Bette Bourne and Polaroids MOT001157
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- Collection
- Main Collection
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
The image features four Polaroids and a black-and-white photo of a person wearing a very fancy looking head dress which is sparkly.
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Gilet With Badge Attached
MOT/2024/NDOTC/LOND/049
Tag Black gillet with safety pins and badge, of the late Thalia Tamari, 1998-2023. She died in her family home wearing the gillet, the safety pins were placed by her mother who pinned it back together after it was cut off by the emergency medics. Gillets are a form of body armour as it hides the shape beneath. Her mother gave it to me a few days after the death. [Text continues on the read of the tag] Thalia wore gillet most days for the last few years of her life. They protected her body from others. There is a yellow badge with a cat with the trans flag on top of it. She loved cats and had a cat called Katniss.
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Categories
- Memorial, Fashion
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Dimensions
- Height 700 mm Width 63 mm Depth 40 mm
A black gilet with several pockets on a wooden clip hanger. It has a yellow badge (with a cat in the trans colours on it) pinned to the left breast pocket and is held together near the left shoulder with safety pins
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Large White Ceramic Vase Full of Dried Flowers With Tag Attached
MOT/2024/NDOTC/CARD/001
Tag The programme comprised of opera singers and musicians from RWCMD as well as poets from the trans and queer community of Cardiff.
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Description
- Memorial offering for Transgender Day of Remembrance. This object was part of a memorial service for Transgender Day of Remembrance 2023 located at St John the Baptist Church in Cardiff, Wales. The vase was generously handcrafted by artist Morgan Dowdell. The service was directed by Christian Hey and produced by Lone Worlds. During the service flowers carrying personal remembrance messages were placed in the vase as offerings. The ceremony programme comprised of opera singers and musicians from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as well as local poets from the trans and queer community of Cardiff. In remembrance of transgender lives lost around the world and for those struggling today.
A splatter or blob shaped white ceramic vase holding dried flowers with brown, handwritten tags.
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Mason Jar Lantern For Vigil of Brianna Ghey
MOT/2024/NDOTC/DUND/029
Tag MASON JAR LANTERN USED IN A VIGIL IN DUNDEE (2023) FOR BRIANNA GHEY. DONATED BY A MUM OF TWO TRANS KIDS.
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Dimensions
- Height 13 cm Width 8.5 cm
A placeholder image that is an illuminous green background and the black outline of a tag.
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Memorial For Trans Day of Rememberance 2023 - 'My Name Was...'
MOT/2024/NDOTC/LOND/001
Tag Hello, my name was...' A memorial art work made for Transgender Day of Rememberance 2023. 392 names. (Oct 2022 - Sep 2023)
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- Collection
- National Day of Trans Collecting
- Category
- Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Dimensions
- Height 1,850 mm Width 1,230 cm Depth 5 mm
A mural for Transgender Day of Remembrance 2023 entitled "Hello, My Name Was ...". It is a three sided black display stand covered with 392 red and white name badges. Each name badge has a name from the TDoR Remembering Our Dead website.
- Placard - Brianna Ghey MOT001138
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- Collections
- Placard & Banner Collection, Main Collection
- Categories
- Memorial, Placards
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
- Description
- A placard which has a photograph of Brianna Ghey who is smiling and holding some chocolate up to her face as she sits in what looks like a bench in a park. The placard has been decorated to have a rainbow border edited around the photograph and the words 'Rest in Power Brianna'.
A placeholder image that is an illuminous green background and the black outline of a tag.
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Placard - Brianna's Life Fucking Mattered
MOT/2024/NDOTC/SOUT/004
Tag Protest Banner After Brianna Ghey's death, Solent Queer Society made protest banners. I think was one of the most powerful ones.
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- Collections
- National Day of Trans Collecting, Placard & Banner Collection
- Categories
- Placards, Memorial
- Place
- Bishopsgate Institute, London
A placeholder image that is an illuminous green background and the black outline of a tag.