On Transgender Day of Remembrance, Trade Unions Congress (TUC) is calling for an end to violence against trans people and protection against government spending cuts for trans people’s specialist support services.

The TUC will join trans people and their supporters today in remembering those who have been victims of hate crime during the past year.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘Despite real progress in public acceptance and legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Britain, trans people in particular are still at great risk of violent assault. Across the world, hundreds of trans people are murdered every year for no other reason than who they are.

‘The TUC is committed to continue challenging the prejudice that leads to dreadful and violent hate crimes against trans people in Britain and across the world. We will continue to campaign against the damaging cuts that have left many of the specialist support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people struggling to survive.’

The TUC has been campaigning for the rights of trans people in Britain and internationally for many years. In September 2014 they published Staying Alive: The Impact of ‘Austerity Cuts’ on the LGBT Voluntary and Community Sector in England and Wales.