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.