Is The Media Disrespect Of Deceased African-American Trans Women Ever Going To End?

We have lost four transwomen of color this month to anti-trans violence in 40 year old Kandy Hall, 28 year old Zoraida Reyes, 31 year old Yaz'min Shancez and now as of Thursday 28 year old Tiffany Edwards.  

One has been buried in Ms Reyes, with the funeral arrangements pending on the others.  

And sadly, Ms Reyes is the only one of the four who has had respectful media coverage of her life and death.

When it comes to reporting about murdered African-American trans women, it seems as though the operative pattern of media outlets is to dehumanize, disrespect and follow the How Not To Respectfully Cover Black Transwomen playbook to the letter.    

*Misgender them at every opportunity?                         Check.
*Use their old male name in the story?                           Check.
*Use a mugshot if discovered?                                      Check. 
*Add criminal record to the story?                                Check.
*Salaciously suggest she was engaged in prostitution?    Check.

I have repeatedly seen this racist pattern when it comes to fallen African-American trans women and I'm tired of it.  I'm beyond sick and tired of media outlets across the country disrespecting African-American trans women in death by not only misgendering them, but if they happen to discover a criminal record, injecting that into the story and publishing a mugshot if available.

It's even more infuriating when an influential gay paper like the Washington Blade does so as in Michael K Lavers' June 8 article about our fallen Baltimore sister Kandy Hall.

Guess I should be thankful for the small favor of them not publicizing a mugshot in the article.

But if we can't get gay media outlets like the Washington Blade to respect our trans lives, what chance are we African-American trans people going to have to get television stations, magazines, and newspapers to do so? 


Publishing a person's criminal history is not germane to the fact that a transwoman was murdered and is problematic.  We transwomen of color already have enough racist stereotypes to overcome while inhabiting Black female bodies like the 'unwoman' meme in addition to the other transphobic baggage we have to deal with.

The last thing we need is media outlets unnecessarily injecting a criminal record into a news story about the untimely demise of an African-American trans woman, much less posting a mugshot pic of her when it is not germane to the narrative and unnecessary to do. 

Once again media professionals, we don't want to be fighting with you about this.  All we are asking is that you simply do your jobs and respectfully tell our stories, even in death. A murder has been committed in which this person tragically lost their life.  Focus on that, not demonizing and postmortem disrespect of the trans murder victim.  .

DC Trans Woman Stabbed 40 Times In Attack

In a continuation of a disturbing pattern of anti-trans violence aimed at trans women of color over the last several years, another Washington DC trans woman was violently attacked over the weekend.

29 year old Bree Wallace was lured to what turned out to be an abandoned house at 3038 Stanton Road SE in Southeast Washington DC at 1 AM Friday morning according to a Washington Blade story and stabbed over 40 times by a person who she was acquainted with.  

She manged to get away and run to her nearby apartment building at 2400 15th St Place SE before she collapsed in the street and was taken to Prince George's Hospital in nearby Cheverly, MD.

Washington DC Metro Police hasn't confirmed that the attacker has been arrested and charged yet, but it was listed on the filed police report in the Lou Chibbaro, Jr story as an assault with intent to kill. 

Wallace is recuperating after being treated for multiple stab wounds in her back and chest and severe lacerations on her hands.  She is well liked in the Washington DC trans community and was one of twelve trans women chosen as part of a recently conducted calendar girl contest for Casa Ruby.

DC trans activists Ruby Corado and Earline Budd knew Wallace, who a client at both their community outreach organizations.   Wallace told Corado that she was acquainted with her attacker but had declined to get involved in a romantic relationship with him and had received a text from the attacker to meet her at that Stanton Road address prior to the attack.

Budd was concerned the DC Metro Police had not issued a public announcement about the assault over the weekend to alert the media and the community that a trans person had been attacked.

Sgt. Matt Mahl of the DC Police Gay and Lesbian Unit stated in the article they were advised about the attack but weren't authorized to comment on it because the attack was still under investigation.

The attack on Wallace also caused Washington DC activist Danielle King to write this comment on her Facebook page:

I'm quite aware that in the coming days the majority within the minority, may say I lost my marbles, but WTF! My sisters, black trans woman continue to be disproportionately impacted by violence and hate crimes, while others continue to enjoy privilege. It is true that trans people as a whole have had some monumental wins lately but damn, we're talking the difference between not being harassed or imprisoned while peeing and getting stabbed, shot or murdered before even making it to the bathroom. Black Trans women - African American Trans Women - are getting slaughtered. To the powers that be - I will not let this one go! It's time I reach out to the White House!

“I just want to make sure that it gets out there, that this attack happened and how brutal it was,” Budd said in the Washington Blade interview. “And also the message needs to be sent that transgender folks need to be very, very cautious in terms of their surroundings, who they are talking to and especially in the nighttime hours.”

Bree, will be praying for your speedy recovery and hoping you, your family and the DC trans community receive justice.

I will also be keeping up with the developments in this case and posting them on TransGriot as it evolves
 

Diamond Stylz-Surrogacy

As I've pointed out in a few posts I do have trans women friends who are mothers raising children.  Some are their own biological ones they had before transition, while others are in marriages or relationships raising their spouse's or significant other's kids as their own. 

Been a while since I posted one of Diamond's video blogs, and this one deserves a little signal boosting because it talks about her desire to be a mother and raise kids.

And no sis.  I still haven't forgotten I owe you an interview. 

Isis Fall 2013 Collection Presentation

Y'all know I'm so bursting at the seams proud of my fashion designing little sis.

Nice segue into what this post is about.   For you peeps in the New York metro area it's Fall Fashion Week 2013.

Isis' main job when she's not lecturing or taking part in discussions on trans issues is as a fashion designer.  Many of the clothes you see her wearing when she's on the runways or taking photos at community events are of her own design.  

With the international fashion world descending on New York for Fashion Week, Isis will be doing a premiere and presentation of her Fashion Collection.

She's entitled it 'The Goldest Winter Ever" and it will be taking place at the Wix Lounge from 6-7:30 PM EST.

Location of the presentation event is the Wix Lounge at  10 West 18th Street in New York, NY between 5th and 6th Streets.  It will be on the second floor level of the club.

Best of luck sis and hope it's one overwhelmingly successful event.

Shoot At A Black Transwoman, Get Out Of Jail Free

Been keeping up with the ongoing story of Kenneth Furr, the inebriated Washington DC cop who while off duty shot at a group of Black transwomen and their friends.after one refused his unwanted advances in a NW Washington CVS drugstore back in August 2011. 

He was convicted back on October 27 of assault with a deadly weapon and soliciting prostitution. Furr had been suspended without pay from Washington Metro PD pending resolution of this ugly incident in which two of the transwomen were wounded and one of the wounded men was hospitalized. .

Furr was facing up to 10 years in jail and another 90 days for the solicitation charge, but I'll bet you can guess what happened during the sentencing phase yesterday.   .

Furr was sentenced to 60 months in jail with 46 months of it suspended.  That left 14 months of his jail time to be served, and isn't it convenient that is the exact amount of time Furr has already served in the Iron Bar Motel.    Long story short, Furr got to walk out a free man.

The DC Trans Coalition was understandably outraged about the jacked up sentence. 

“This result is the product of a legal system that constantly devalues trans people’s lives,” said DC Trans Coalition member Jason Terry. “Officer Furr’s defense team actively sought to portray the victims as somehow deserving of this violence, and apparently they succeeded. If roles had been reversed and a trans woman had gotten drunk and flashed a gun at a police officer, the results would be drastically different.” It is important to note that Furr was convicted only of flashing a weapon at two gay men involved in the incident, not for shooting at the trans women and others involved.

“Officer Furr exemplifies why this fear exists,” said Terry. “DC’s trans communities face blatant discrimination, harassment, and violence from police officers every day, yet when an officer drunkenly shoots at trans people, accountability seems to disappear.”

Yep, the justice just-us system just sent another unspoken message to the Black trans community in the District and all those who hate us inside I-495.   Shoot at a Black transwoman, and get out of jail free for doing so if you go to jail at all.  

TransGriot Update: Furr got three years of supervised probation, a $150 fine, and 100 hours of community service...whoopee (sarcasm meter on maximum)

Deoni Jones Update-Alleged Killer To Be Tried In June

Here's the latest news in the Deoni Jones murder and the effort to bring the person who is alleged to have committed the heinous crime to justice.

55 year old Gary Niles Montgomery is the Washington man arrested for and accused of killing Deoni Jones as she waited at a Washington METRO bus in Northeast DC back in February.

According to the charging documents reported in the METRO Weekly story, two witnesses passing by a bus stop at the intersection of Sycamore Road and East Capitol Street NE, in Washington's Benning Heights neighborhood, at 8 PM EST on February 2 saw a man matching Montgomery's description strike Jones in the head and then Jones fall to the ground. 

Jones was transported to Prince George's County Hospital Center in Cheverly, MD., where she died of her injuries about six hours later.

Montgomery appeared in DC Superior Court for a Friday morning status hearing and was scheduled for a June 10, 2013 trial date.   He was indicted November 9 on a charge of first-degree murder while armed and pleaded not guilty to the fatal stabbing of Ms. Jones.

Montgomery will continue to held without bond as he awaits his trial date that we now know will take place in June.

Let's hope justice is served in this murder and I'll keep you posted about any developments in this case..

Interviews with Janet and Toni

Well, the stories and coverage involving #girlslikeus just keeps on happening.  

And that a wonderful thing as far as I'm concerned .  The more positive coverage we get the better it is for all of us. 

Janet Mock is featured in a Colorlines.com interview discussing the fredom to tell her own story and how gender and race plays into the media discussions of trans people.

Janet will also be taking part in a plenary session at the Facing Race 2012 conference.  It will take plac in Baltimore, MD and is a gathering of hundreds of racial justice thinkers, advocates and culture makers from November 15-17

And nope I have a previous commitment that won't allow me to be there for this event. 

Toni Newman is featured in an article published in the November 2012 issue of the iconic EBONY magazine written by Michelle Burford entitled "Transgender and God's Child." 

Looking forward to reading it.

Stephanie and Ukea-Ten Years Later

TransGriot Note: I was originally just going to publish this piece here, but decided it needed a major signal boost.   Since HuffPo Gay Voices extended me an invitation to write for them, I decided to have it posted there as well since the 10th Anniversary of the execution style killings of Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis and the fact their killers are still walking around free needed to be pointed out.

On August 12, 2002 on the same 50th and C Street corner in SE Washington DC in which the car accident occurred that eventually took Tyra Hunter's life due to medical transphobia, transteens Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis died in a hail of automatic gunfire.

Ten years later, this double murder still hasn't been solved.  It saddens me and other DC area transpeople who remember that horrific crime that it hasn't..

As I said in the 2011 post I wrote at my home blog on the 9th anniversary of this despicable murder:

These young sisters died because somebody hated them so much for transitioning that they felt they had the right to violently terminate their lives.  I don't want people or the trans community to forget what happened to these young African descended transwomen or why they are no longer here on planet Earth with us.

I also want the wastes of DNA who committed this heinous crime to be brought to justice not just for me, the trans community of DC and around the world, but Stephanie's mother as well.    .

Someone in that neighborhood knows or heard something that will facilitate the arrest and conviction of the people who did this.   They belong in jail, not walking around in society.

19 year old Stephanie and 18 year old Ukea's lives were extinguished before they even had a chance to live them.  Both of them would be approaching their thirties right now.  I wonder what dreams and aspirations they had for themselves they never got to fulfill?  What kind of contributions to our society did we lose because somebody hated Stephanie and Ukea enough to kill them for openly living their trans lives?

That's what angers me every time I contemplate their loss and the loss of every transperson to anti-trans violence.  It's also what drives me to ensure that no more mothers like Queen Washington have to witness their trans child being buried or mothers who have trans children fearing the same thing will happen to their kids.

Stephanie and Ukea, know that you ladies are not only not forgotten by the trans community and all who loved you.  The trans community in Washington DC and around the country won't rest until the people who killed you are brought to justice. 

We also won't rest until we create a world in which trans youth can come out, dream big dreams and simply live their lives just like any other cisgender kid does

.

Justice For Nakhia!

When I was living in Louisville, I got to know and become friends in 2005 with Nakhia Williams.   I was shocked and angry to find out less than a few days after I had a conversation with her in August 2008 she was found shot near her west Louisville apartment after a home invasion robbery August 20 and died from it ten days later.   

I was even more pissed off when I saw the initial misgendering headline about that 2008 case and reported WDRB-TV to GLAAD over their misgendering report that violated AP Stylebook guidelines on reporting about trans people.   I wasn't the only one pissed about it.  So were local trans people and other persons who attended her funeral. 

Was happy to find out that the wastes of DNA who committed the crime, Reginald Grider and Damon Malone were caught by LMPD and recently brought to justice. 

And WDRB-TV respectfully reported it on their site.

Grider received 15 years for the robbery and burglary of Nakhia's apartment.  Just before the trial was scheduled to start, Malone accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 35 years for Nakhia's murder..

No, the punishments don't bring her back, but it does provide closure to the family and all of us who loved Nakhia and miss her in our lives.

,

Janet Mock Launches #GirlsLikeUs Twitter Campaign

“I will never depart from my core belief that CeCe and Paige and thousands of other girls like us matter.”   Janet Mock

You TransGriot readers know I have much love admiration and respect for People.com editor Janet Mock who ever since she revealed her trans status and her personal journey in the May 2011 Marie Claire article has been an eloquent advocate for transwomen who share our African descended roots.

Now Janet is taking it another step further by launching a Twitter campaign with the #GirlsLikeUs hashtag.   So for you folks who spend time at Twitter, when your subject is about trans women, use that hashtag

As Janet wrote in this post at her janetmock.com blog,

We are not disposable. No human life is. And until we all come around to this belief we’ll never achieve equality. When I say equality, it’s not only a phrase we attach to the right to get married, I attach it to the the fabric of our lives: the right to work, the right to have a home, the right to use the restroom without second guessing, the right to walk in your neighborhood and feel safe.

Just as we all rose up in collective anger and justifiable outrage over Trayvon Martin's killing, neither should it be acceptable what happened to Paige, Brandy and Cece.

When it comes to African descended #GirlsLikeUs, that message needs to be used as a clarion call inside and outside our community.  It's past time that our iconic legacy organizations such as the NAACP, the Urban League, the Congressional Black Caucus and countless others stop ignoring what is happening to African descended transpeople like us.

It's time for them to step up to the plate and unequivocally state that we are part of the kente cloth fabric of the African-American community and anti-trans violence and transphobia will not be tolerated.

Thanks Janet for getting this Twitter party started.

TPOCC and NBJC Stand With CeCe

TransGriot Note: Here are the press release from TPOCC  and the National Black Justice Coalition concerning the upsetting news about a plea deal in the CeCe McDonald case.

"It is unfortunate that in this case, as in so many, the hate crime itself is overlooked entirely," explains Kylar Broadus, NBJC Board Member and Executive Director of the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC), a national organization that promotes the interests of trans people of color. "We must continue to rally for fair and equal treatment for our Black trans sisters who are disproportionally targeted and killed because of who they are."

"CeCe's case is a sad reminder of the injustices transgender women of color face," says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. "Where do we get off blaming the victim in what was clearly a hate- and bias-motivated attack? It's unthinkable and it's un-American."