We Must Do Our Part To End Anti-Trans Violence

When I left for my family reunion trip to Denver a few days ago I was discussing along with many people in the DC local and national trans community the attack aimed at Bree Wallace in which she was stabbed up to 40 times.  

Michael McBride, the perpetrator of the attack aimed at her was arrested on another unrelated charge and in DC Metro police custody.  He has been additionally charged with the attack on Ms Wallace. 

But unfortunately as Washington DC endures another sweltering summer, the trans women who live in The District have been subjected to another wave of violent attacks with the spillover effect affecting the G and L end of the community, too..

A trans woman was assaulted on the 500 block of Eastern Avenue, NE. at approximately 6:00 AM EDT on Friday by two men and was shot by one of the suspects as she attempted to run away.   According the DC metro police reports she was treated for her injury at a local hospital.

The second occurred Saturday in the 300 block of 61st Street, NE at approximately 3:30 AM  when a trans woman accepted a ride from an unknown male and was sexually assaulted inside the perpetrator's vehicle.

Less than an hour later two suspects attempted to rob a trans woman in the area of 5th and K Street, NE at approximately 4:05 AM.  She was shot and taken to a local hospital with non life threatening injuries.

I said this in my post in the wake of Bree Wallace's stabbing and it needs to be repeated. 

While there is a culture of anti-trans violence aimed at trans women in the Washington DC area that needs to be addressed, getting the word out about these attacks is a great start but it's not enough..

The DC trans community (and by extension, trans communities across this nation) are going to have to deal with the reality that as Black and Latina trans women, we like our cis sisters are walking targets for anti-female violence and sexual assault. 

The failure to consistently pass that message home to our trans younglings has resulted in far too many of our sisters being killed, sexually assaulted or injured.  

We not only need to talk about that more often,  we transwomen must begin to consistently talk about the need for hyper vigilance about our surroundings and the situations we can potentially end up in.   That needs to begin being drilled into our heads the nanosecond we begin living our lives as estrogen based lifeforms.

We need to talk about that issue in our support groups, our sistah circles and in our video and written blogs.  If nobody else wants to talk about it because it's not a happy-happy joy-joy topic, then I'm more than willing for the sake of saving people's lives to have that discussion.

As my old endocrinologist Dr. Lee Emery used to tell me over a decade ago during my checkups, you get the good and the bad with a feminine gender transition   Having to deal with being a potential target for anti-female violence is part of that bad stuff. 

Any small lapse in security awareness of your person can result in serious injury, a sexual assault or you having your name read at the next Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial ceremony. 

I believe a step toward curbing and dismantling the anti-trans violence culture in Washington DC is calling a public meeting possibly at City Hall with trans community activists, the DC Metro Police and other interested parties to repeat this message until it burns into the consciousness of transpeople in DC and elsewhere. 

If one of our community's stated goals is to make Transgender Day of Remembrance events obsolete, a significant portion of the solution to combating anti-trans violence rests on the trans community to do internal things that don't require police or governmental involvement.  

Yes, the police will play a role.  Our trans brothers can help us in that regard.  So will local organizations that serve our community.  But anti-trans violence is not just a Washington DC, Chicago, or Los Angeles problem.   It can happen anywhere and at any time.  This is an opportunity for trans feminine communities to work intersectionally not only with our trans men but our cisgender male and female allies to help combat this problem.  The work must begin now to tackle the problem before we lose more people to anti-trans violence.

Some of it is common sense stuff.   Try to make sure you're not walking alone in the early morning hours.   Be aware of your surroundings.  Don't accept rides from people you don't know.   If you're in a club situation don't leave your drink uncovered and go with a friend or group of friends.  

Each individual member of our trans feminine community must do their part in getting that message out there that we do have a personal responsibility piece to helping curb the anti-trans violence aimed at us and curbing the spike in anti-trans violence