Houston Trans Woman Murdered

Been wondering how long it would take before all the anti-trans hate peddled during the HERO repeal last year by the Republican Party, Rev. Ed Young, Steve Riddle, Steven Hotze, Dave Wilson, and the Baptist Ministers Assn of Houston and Vicinity would start negatively affecting my community.

The answer was last night.

34 year old Shante Thompson and her friend Willie Sims were fatally shot and killed in Midtown Houston late last night at the corner of Dennis and Fannin Streets.  .It appears Thompson and Sims were hit with a crowbar or tire iron before being shot. According to a KHOU-11 report the motive for the killing is still under investigation.

The blood of Shante Thompson is on your hands Harris County GOP, Max Miller, Steve Riddle, and Ed Young.  Your faux faith based spreading of transphobia for political gain has finally manifested itself into the death of this trans woman.   You cannot spread anti-trans hatred as you did for years and think it won't have real world societal consequences.

And as you probably guessed, the initial news report on ABC-13 misgendered and deadnamed Thompson before it was corrected thanks to Nikki Araguz Loyd and other community allies calling them out about it.

Nikki Araguz Loyd

2 hrs · Houston · 

Another Trans woman named "Chante" was murdered last night in Houston..... And the media led with her dead name and then said known to friends as.....‪#‎ABC13‬

Hey ABC-13 and other Houston media outlets,  there is something you need to familiarize yourself with called the AP Stylebook.  It has had since 2001 guidelines on how the respectfully cover trans people.  So does GLAAD and the NLGJA.  But then again if you have been reading it from the beginning, we'd still have HERO on the books.

Ahem.  From the AP Stylebook:Transgender: Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

And one other thing.  It's transgender person, not transgendered.

Thompson is now the seventh trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence in the US in 2016 and the third one  we have lost in Texas.   All the Texas trans people lost have unfortunately been trans people of color.

The opening stages of planning for a vigil  have started, and I'll pass on the time and date for that event once it's finalized.  Houston Police are still looking for the perpetrator of this killing and if you have any information about what happened that will lead to the capture of the person or persons who did this, please call Crimestoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477)

As I get more information about Shante's murder, I'll pass it on to you in subsequent TransGriot post.

Rest in power and peace, sis.   We won't rest in H-town until your killer is captured and brought to justice.