Trans people in Cyprus face many problems but they live in obscurity, Accept LGBTI Cyprus said to mark the Transgender Remembrance Day aiming to draw attention to the violence against them.

In a post on social media to mark the day n Sunday, the LGBTI rights NGO said that on this Trans Day of Remembrance “we mourn 327 innocent lives lost to transphobia over the past year.”

According to @TGEUorg Trans Murder Monitoring, 26 per cent of the past year’s documented killings took place at victims’ homes. Some 36 per cent of the trans people reported murdered were migrants.

In Cyprus, the transgender community faces many problems and is almost in a state of obscurity, Accept LGBTI said.

It reminded the public that it runs an active group of trans people aiming to help the community both in their daily lives and integration into society.

“If any person is or has in their circle or in their organisation a person who belongs to the community you can contact us,” it said.

Trans rights are still lacking in Cyprus, as the island is probably the last country in Europe to introduce legal gender recognition in its national legislation.

Cabinet has recently approved a bill allowing anyone over age 16 to legally have their gender changed on official documents without having undergone gender reassignment surgery. The draft bill was sent to parliament for official approval.

The transgender Remembrance Day was established in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a trans woman, in memory of Rita Hester, who was murdered in the same year.