Tyra Hunter should be with us right now eagerly anticipating the celebration of her 50th birthday.
But instead, her life tragically ended way too soon because of two transphobes.
One of the transphobes was a Washington DC fire department EMT. The other was the emergency room doctor at the hospital where she died.
On the morning of August 7, 1995 the 24 year old Hunter was a passenger in a car headed to the salon in which she worked as a hairdresser. Her mother Margie Hunter was a nurse, and Tyra had transitioned at age 17. She was popular in the SE Washington DC neighborhood where their family lived.
The car she was a passenger in was involved in an accident at the corner of 50th and C Streets SE. She and the driver Tedessa Rankin were pulled from the smoking ruins of the Hyundai Excel car Rankin was driving to await treatment by the DC Fire Department EMTs headed their way..
As the gathering neighborhood onlookers watched an EMT later identified as Adrian Williams began treating a semi conscious Hunter for her injuries. He stopped and backed away after he cut open her pants legs to reveal her genitalia, saying "This b***h ain't no girl. It's a n****r, he got a dick..
Williams then began joking with other DCFD personnel on the scene as the neighborhood onlookers witnessing his and his coworkers transphobic behavior pleaded with him to resume working on Hunter to save her life.
Hunter's treatment was stopped for 5-7 critical minutes as the DCFD personnel on the scene kept cracking transphobic jokes. An EMS supervisor eventually arrived on the scene and resumed treating Hunter for her injuries.
She was eventually rushed to the now closed DC General Hospital where .she arrived at 4:10 PM EDT only to receive the same transphobic treatment from the DC General Hospital emergency room staff.
One doctor refused to treat her, Another assumed because she was a Black trans woman she had HIV and was more concerned about that instead of treating her for the blunt force trauma injuries she sustained in the traffic accident. Hunter died in the DC General Hospital emergency room at 5:23 PM EDT.
The case sent shockwaves through and angered the DC and national trans community. Over 2000 people attended her August 12 funeral. Her mother Margie Gunter later won a $2.9 million judgment in a subsequent wrongful death lawsuit.
It is a case that still resonates with me and every Black trans person around at that mid 90's time as a concrete example of the medical transphobia that can be deadly for us.
25 years later we have a federal government that is trying to return us back to those days when EMT's like Adrian Williams and doctors could refuse to treat us.
Rest in power Tyra. Your Black trans life mattered to me and ever trans person of your generation. We will fight to ensure that no one suffers like you did on that August 7 day 25 years ago.
"Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. And when a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize,"-Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
When are these conservafools going to get the message not to mess with Rep Alexandria Ocasio Cortez?
We get it Republican Party, FOX Noise and conservafool movement. .Y'all have your hate on for her because she's a smart young Latina who doesn't have to work hard to make y'all look foolish on a regular basis. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is also considered to be a future contender for higher office, and that scares the crap out of you.
On Wednesday Yahoo Yoho (R-FL) decided to be his usual azzhole self out on the Capitol steps and accost Rep Ocasio Cortez, who was headed into the building to cast a vote and minding her own business. . He made disrespectful comments about her, and concluded by calling her the b-word.
On Tuesday, Yoho tried to do damage control and makemade a non apology apology on the House floor that was no only pathetically weak, it didn't even mention Rep Ocasio-Cortez by name.
Rep Ocasio Cortez as y'all already know is a formidable communicator. On top of that, Yoho probably realized after he opened his big mouth he'd messed with the wrong congressional woman.
Rep Ocasio Cortez used some of her time this morning to clap back on that conservaazz and call Yoho out for his non apology apology.. She also turned this incident into an opportunity to talk about how men disrespectfully talk to and about women they are intimidated by.
Today marks the 50th birthday of one of my DC homegirls in Ruby Corado, the founding ED of Casa Ruby.
I first became aware of her after the 2003 murder of trans Latina Bella Evangelista, and met her during one of my DC lobbying trips. Our friendship grew to the point that whenever I flew into or out of Washington DC to handle my activist business, she made sure she got her quality time in by either snatching my butt up at the airport when I arrived or picking me up from my hotels as I prepared to head to the airport to return home to Houston.
I remember when she started Casa Ruby in 2012, and I've been proud to see it grow to the level it has;
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Most of my quality time trips with her involved me spending some time with the Casa Ruby clients and peeps there for its programming.
And yeah, there have been some interesting moments we've had at other TBLGQ themed conferences.
It's been a long challenging at times journey for her from leaving El Salvador at age 16 to becoming one of our country's highly respected advocates and founding ED of Casa Ruby.
She is a role model to Latina trans advocates like Ana Andrea Molina here in Houston and elsewhere, and has much respect in the Washington DC area and the immigrant trans Latina community. .
Happy 50th birthday Ruby! May you celebrate many more to come.!
Four years ago today I was waking up at Ruby Corado's place in Washington DC. She and I were getting dressed in order to head to the White House to attend the White House Pride Reception that was starting at 2 PM EDT.
It was my fifth trip of the Obama Administration to the White House, but the first time I'd gotten an invite to be in the People's House for this event It was also extra special to be because I was getting to see a president shared my ethnic background while hanging out with many of the peeps in the movement.
There was also this air of sadness because this was the last one that President Obama would be presiding over' It added to my thankfulness and excitement that after missing the previous seven receptions, I was going to be able to attend it for the first time.
The sadness was exacerbated by those of us in attendance realizing this could be the last one for a while if for some convoluted reason our Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost to that racist orange grand wizard the Republicans nominated.
While it was a concern, we focused on the excitement of that day. As Ruby and I got in line at the Southeast Entrance to clear security in order to enter the White House, the fun began of seeing who else had been invited from outside the beltway and made it to DC.
I could invite a person to attend with me as a plus one, and since most of the DC area trans and SGL folks were already covered along with much of my Houston activist fam who could go, I chose Catalina Velasquez to be that person.
She thanked me when she spotted me in that long line, and after I saw Catalina, started spotting other TBLGQ peeps I knew.. We were also fortunate that it wasn't a typical muggy Washington DC late spring day while we waited to enter the White House.
I spotted Phillipe Cunningham, and it was while we were talking he told me he was going to run (successfully) for the Minneapolis City Council.
I ran into Fiona Dawson, and we finalized our plans for driving up I-95 later that evening to the Philly Trans Health Conference that had started the same day. I had a panel I was participating on Day 2 of that conference organized by Brynn Tannehill, and was looking forward to seeing everyone I knew that was there.
While I was happy that the reception was happening on the first day of the PTHC, it still meant I was going to miss the first day of that conference. But the opportunity to do a 139 mile detour from Philly to the White House for this event was way more important.
After clearing the multiple layers of security, I entered the People's House to be greeted by the amazing sight of the original trans pride flag in a glass case, and took a pic of if to show to Monica Helms later.
The people sighting started exponentially increasing as we were escorted to the East Room for the reception. I ran into Danielle and Aisha Moodie-Mills. I started seeing various members of Congress including then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
And while I was talking to Danielle and Aisha, somebody walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to discover it was Laverne Cox. We all started chatting, and that when I was spotted by Andrea Jenkins.
Andrea and I eventually stopped in front of Hillary Clinton's First Lady White House portrait to take a pic at the time in hopeful anticipation that she would be our next POTUS. I also said to her at the time, "I hope that you and Phillipe get to make history and serve on the Minneapolis City Council at the same time."
Hey, just call me Monidamus. I put it in the atmosphere, and it came true.
Let me put this in the atmosphere. . I hope trump loses in a landslide in November, the Republicans lose control of the US Senate, John Cornyn and Mitch McConnell are defeated, we get control of the Texas House, and the four Democrats women running for the Texas Supreme Court all win.
We also enjoyed the nice hot finger foods prepared for us like the mini Maryland crab cakes instead of the 'hamberders' Trump WH guests get before gathering in the East Room to see the man of the hour in President Barack Obama.
While we were disappointed that the First Lady couldn't be there, we were still happy to see the best president ever on trans issues (and LGB ones)
And just like that, once President Obama finished speaking, it was over, and it was time to depart the White House After chatting with a few more folks, I finally exited the White House with Ruby to finish packing up and getting ready to roll up I-95 north with Fiona.
We left the WH Pride reception that day hopeful that America was finally on the right track when it came to LGBTQ issues. Those of us who were part of the trans community had even more reason to be excited and hopeful because we knew for the first time since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane from Denmark, the federal government was on our side, and we had reasonable expectations that the forward trans rights progression would continue under a Clinton Administration.
We would find out 48 hours later just how much anti-TBLGQ hatred we would have to overcome in the United States to make this a more perfect union for our community when I was awakened in Philly that Sunday morning by Dionne Stallworth to the news of the Pulse mass shooting in Orlando. .
But that June 9, 2016 day was the start of an amazing weekend for me. A whirlwind weekend that took me from Houston to Washington DC, to Philly for the PTHC thanks to Fiona, the Philly Trans Health Conference, back to DC for Capital Pride, and home.
And today's Pride Reception anniversary reminded me how fast time not only flies, but how history and the course of it can change with one event.
These posts are coming so fast an furiously these days it's taking me time to just get caught up writing them.
We head back to the Washington DC area, specifically the same Fairmount Heights, MD suburb where Ashanti Carmon was killed to report on the latest trans woman taken from us way too soon.
23 year old Washington DC resident Zoe Spears was found shot to death from a gunshot wound just after midnight EDT in June 13. Spears was declared dead at the scene by first responders, and her body was found less than half a mile from where Carmon's was found.
Spears is now the tenth American trans woman we have lost to anti-trans violence. All the known American trans deaths so far in 2019 have been African American. She is also the seventh under age 30 to die this year.
No word yet if there is a person of interest in this case.
As of yet no word concerning a memorial service or funeral planned, and I will pass that info along when I receive it.
For those of you in the DMV area, a vigil has been scheduled tonight for our sister Ashanti Carmon, who was killed in the early morning hours of March 30.
Here's the press release for it:
April 2, 2019, Washington, DC
The Transgender community condemns the murder of Ashanti Carmon, a 27-year old transgender woman who was brutally shot multiple times to death in the 5000 block of Jost Street in the town of Fairmount Heights, MD on the morning of Saturday March 30
The Transgender community and other local LGBTQ organizations joins the Carmon family and friends in mourning this senseless loss. Her murder reminds us all of how often the transgender community is targeted for violence in our society. Sadly, violence against transgender people has become far too common in many cities.
While this murder was just across the Eastern Avenue line and happened in Maryland, Ashanti is well known and loved in the DC area by many. In looking back on murders it brings us to the shooting death on Eastern Avenue N.E. of Lashai McClean age 23 who was killed in July of 2011. While this murder may or may not be characterized as a hate crime by police at this time, it is important that each of us works to eradicate transphobia on a personal and societal level.
There will be a Press Conference prior to the vigil, beginning at 6:30 PM EDT. The vigil will take place on April 02, 2019 at 6:30 pm in the 5000 block of Jost Street near the site of the attack. The LGBTQ community encourages everyone to participate and show solidarity against hatred and violence. Also, Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced once released.
This is definitely not the way I wanted to spend our tenth anniversary celebration of the Transgender Day of Visibility, but it is a sobering reminder of how our visibility can come with a high price.
It's also something I've been concerned about as we transition out of the colder winter weather into the spring. When the weather warms up, the anti-trans violence incidents rise along with the warmer temperatures.
We travel to the Washington DC area for news concerning the second trans murder of 2019.
The 20 something year old Ashanti Carmon was found dead after Fairmount Heights police responded to multiple shots fired calls in the area of Aspen and Jost streets around 6:23 AM EDT Saturday morning.
The area is near the DC-Prince George's County line. Police arrived at the scene seven minutes later, located Carmon, and pronounced her dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
It was the first murder in Fairmount Heights in five years according to its police chief. The homicide investigation will be turned over to the Prince George's County Police.
As of yet, no word on a memorial vigil or a funeral, but once I find out that information, I will pass it on to you TransGriot readers once I receive it. .
And I have to ask once again, especially on this TDOV day, when will our Black trans lives matter to the Black cis community?:
Both the trans people we have lost to anti-trans violence in 2019 have in common they are Black trans feminine people and under age 35.
Rest in power and peace Ashanti. May the person who committed this heinous crime be swiftly caught and punished for it.
When the Democrats got control of the US House, what that also meant is that when this session of the 116th Congress started, every committee got a new chairperson that is a Democratic Party member, with the Republicans sliding into the Ranking Member seat.
It also goes without saying that Democratic majorities, like the House, .are ensconced in every committee and subcommittee.
Rep Jackie Speier (D-CA) is the new head of the House Armed Services Committee Military Personnel Subcommittee.
In the wake of the SCOTUS unjust ruling lifting two of the three injunctions blocking implementation of the odious Trump trans military ban, a hearing of this subcommittee has been scheduled for February 27 to discuss it according to reporting by Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade.
The hearing on 'Transgender Service Policy' will feature transgender member of our armed services along with Trump administration officials.
Set to testify on that date at 2 PM EST are Army Captain Alivia Stehlik, Army Captain Jennifer Peace, Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, Navy Corpsman and Petty Officer 3rd Class Patricia King Navy Lt. Commander Blake Dremann and Navy Hospital Corpsman and Petty Officer 3rd Class Akira Wyatt
Peace and Dremann were some of the trans service members invited to attend the recent State of the Union message.
Jesse Ehrenfeld MD, who is now at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, is also set to testify as a combat veteran deployed to Afghanistan.
The Trump administration people invited to testify are James Stewart, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of readiness and defense, and Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, who heads the Defense Health Agency.
Some of the Democratic legislators that sit on that subcommittee are Rep Deb Haaland (D-NM)
The hearing will take place in Room 2118 of the Rayburn House Office Building, so if you wish to go as community members to support our trans troops and live in the DC area, I hope that you can do so.
When you visit the House and Senate office buildings in Washington DC, in addition to having the nameplate of the representative or senator outside the entry door, there will also be an American flag, their state flag, and then sometimes a third flag of choice on a flagpole outside of the office.
Sometimes that third flag is one for the school they graduated from. Some have the black POW flags, or the flag representing the branch of the military they served in.
Freshman Representative Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) has a unique one hanging outside her Longworth House Office Building door. It's the trans pride flag, and she may be the first congressmember to ever display it outside their congressional office door.
Abby Carter, Rep. Wexton's chief of staff, said that she displays the trans pride flag to make a personal statement about trans inclusion. She the aunt to a trans child, and Del. Danica Roem is one of her Virginia 10th District constituents.
"This is personal for me. We're talking about my family and friends,” Rep. Wexton said in a statement to NBC News. "I want everyone in the trans community to know that they are welcome and loved even in the face of this administration and its attacks on who they are."
"I didn’t think putting it up would be a big deal, but I've received a huge outpouring of support and appreciation from the LGBT community in the past two days," Wexton added. "We’ve been receiving messages from across the country and they've been telling me how much it means to them to see that in the halls of Congress.
It is a huge deal Rep. Wexton. In a time when trans Americans have been under attack by the federal government and evilgelicals, and feel that their governments at any level don't care about them, to see that trans pride flag outside a congress member's office.
Until trans people get elected to Congress, we will be dependent upon legislative allies to help push the policies and make the laws that make life better for trans Americans.
The next time I go to DC, I'm definitely stopping by to say hello and personally thank you for sending a message to everyone that either stops by your office or walks past it that trans lives matter.
I met Shea Diamond during the 2017 BTAC conference in Dallas, and one of the highlights of it was our Family Day when she, Shea Freedom, Diamond Stylz backed up by Carmarion Anderson on percussion gave us an impromptu mic drop worthy singing performance.
Last Saturday the 22nd annual HRC National Dinner was held in Washington DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and Shea Diamond was tapped to sing at the event.
Shea has been blowing up since I last saw her at BTAC. She has been signed by a major label, and she is currently working on her debut EP that is being executive produced by Justin Tranter.
After being introduced at the dinner by Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, she went on stage and handled her business, singing an acoustic take on her hit song 'American Pie'. She also gained a new fan in our former Vice President Joe Biden.
VP Biden was so moved by her performance he met with Shea backstage after she finished
Congrats Shea on all the positive things happening in your life right now. Looking forward to hearing that EP when it drops.
Eric Holder was the attorney general during much of the Obama Administration from 2009-2015. There are rumors that he is considering a run for POTUS in 2020.
I also have much love and respect for AG Holder, and hope he does decide to run. We'll find out if that happens withing the next few months.
The 2018 HRC National Dinner took place Saturday night in Washington DC, and AG Holder was on the stage speaking to the folks attending the dinner.
He also gave a shoutout to Shea Diamond's performance during that event.
The white supremacists are coming to Washington DC's Lafayette Park on August 12 to celebrate the one year anniversary of their 'Unite The Right' Rally in Charlottesville, VA.
As you are aware of, many of DC's 700,000 residents are Black and not feeling the Klan affiliated hatemongers coming to town. You can count DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) as one of the many people who aren't feeling this march.
"We have people coming to our city for the sole purpose of spewing hate," Mayor Bowser said. "We denounce hate, we denounce anti-Semitism, and we denounce the rhetoric we expect to hear this Sunday."
One of the things that was suggested for security purposes was to give the Klan affiliated hatemongers a special WMATA subway train comprised of three rail cars to transport them from their assembly point near the Vienna, VA station to the Foggy Bottom-GWU station. The haters would be subsequently escorted by police from that station to the Lafayette Park rally site.
The proposal was made by WMATA officials as a way to avoid a repeat of the violent confrontations that happened in Charlottesville.
That plan got derailed (pun intended) quickly when the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union Local 689 declared in a statement their members would refuse to drive those trains. They correctly felt it would give special treatment to hate groups and a courtesy that hasn't been extended to any other group planning a march or rally in Washington DC.
“Local 689 is proud to provide transit to everyone for the many events we have in D.C. including the March of Life, the Women’s March and Black Lives Matters rallies," ATU Local 689 president Jackie Jeter said in the statement.“We draw the line at giving special accommodation to hate groups and hate speech,” Jeter said. “We find it hypocritical... to make these unprecedented special accommodations for a hate group.”The union said that people of color make up “more than 80 percent of Local 689’s membership... the very people that the Ku Klux Klan and other white nationalist groups have killed, harassed and violated. The union has declared that it will not play a role in their special accommodation.”
WMATA has dropped the idea, and is now coordinating via talks with the Virginia State Police, the MPD and Metro Transit Police what they will do to keep everyone safe on hate rally day and keep it peaceful.
Good luck with that. But one thing to note is there will not be a white supremacist express subway train for their DC hate rally.
Wonder if Dolt 45 will make an appearance at Lafayette Park so he and Stephen Miller can hang out with all the 'good people' that will be at that hate rally?
The Conservative Noise Machine and elements of the media are outraged about Michelle Wolf's White House Correspondents Dinner remarks.
Where was the lie in anything she said Saturday night? It's hilarious to me that people up to and including Dolt 45 are demanding she 'apologize' for her remarks.
Example 1: “You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him. I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you. He’s helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you’re profiting off of him. And if you’re gonna profit off of Trump, you should at least give him some money because he doesn’t have any.”
Hey, your job as part of the Fourth Estate is to tell the truth, seek it out and speak it to power. The truth is media, you failed us in 2016 and still are by not pushing back hard enough against this misadministration or the crap that Republicans are doing to this country.
If a mere GLAAD Media Award winning blogger can see this, why can't you?
Michelle Wolf basically said what a lot of thinking Americans have been saying to each other, and the media, because they have been disconnected from what many people have been saying, is going apoplectic about being called out on their crap by Wolf at the so called 'Nerd Prom'.
She is a patriot who needs to be congratulated, not reviled
Well, you can judge for yourself whether Michelle Wolf's routine was 'controversial' .
The 30th annual edition of the LGBTQ Task Force's Creating Change Conference is happening right now until January 28 at one of my fave Washington DC hotels, the historic Marriott Wardman Park.
This northwest DC hotel is also celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2018. The reason I wrote the historic Marriott Wardman Park is because since 1984 the hotel has been on the National Register of Historic Places, and has had many historic figures either stay there, work there or hosted historic events inside its walls.
In addition to Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Herbert Hoover staying there along with a lengthy list of political figures, poet Langston Hughes worked at the hotel as a busboy.
In 1925 he handed three of his poems to noted critic to Vachel Lindsay who was dining there that evening. Lindsay read them, was impressed by his work and then launched Hughes' literary career by announcing he'd discovered the 'busboy poet'
There's a gold plaque in the hotel marking the spot where Hughes handed his poems to Lindsay that i discovered during my 2012 visit because my room was in that part of the hotel.
In 1954 Thurgood Marshall and his legal team spent several days staying at the Wardman Park to prep for and watch Marshall successfully argue before the Supreme Court the landmark Brown v Board of Education case
I stayed there for the 2012 NBJC OUT on the Hill conference I was a participant in, and was back four years later for the joint NABJ-NAHJ media conference.
Now the Marriott Wardman Park is hosting the 30th annual Creating Change conference, and for the first time since 2014 I won't be in attendance at Creating Change after being at the last four in Houston, Denver, Chicago and in Philadelphia last year. . Just couldn't make it happen this year .
I'm even more bummed about it because Miss Major is being honored with an award during this event, and I'm missing getting reconnected with all my movement homies and homettes.
For those of you who are in DC for #CC18, the daylong institutes are happening today as you read this. they started at 9 AM EST and run until 6 PM. The first plenary session will take place at 8 PM EST tonight.
Starting tomorrow are the seminars in which #CC18 attendees can get their learn on about different topics that will continue through Sunday.
That's before I even start talking about the various organizations there at #CC18 who will have conversations and strategy meetings that won't be talked about,
But my favorite part of Creating Change it is not only reconnecting and talking to everyone from around the country, it's also having those conversations while hanging out in the various hospitality suites. The suites allow you to get a complimentary bite to eat, have those moments to talk to people away from the hustle and bustle of the convention, the restaurants or the bar area.
I also like to take time to step away from the conference hotel and see some of the host city, and DC has plenty for people to see and experience
Just upset that this year, I won't be there to experience it with you.
Oh well, I'll just have to catch y'all in Detroit for #CC19
'I am deeply concerned when we are-- just having celebrated the birth of of Dr. Martin Luther King, who spoke about the effect of racism in this country and words that are motivated by racism. For so many reasons they are harmful. They have led to death. At their mildest form, which is not mild, it suggests to one group of people that they are inferior, and to another that they are superior, to their fellow man.' -Sen Kamala Harris
Sen. Cory Booker wasn't the only member of the Senate Judiciary committee that called out Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen about her memory lapses and ignoring that the US has a white supremacist terror problem.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) also called out Secretary Nielsen about her concerns about the Trump misadministration racism before pivoting to taking about DHS policy.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) put Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on blast during a Senate oversight committee hearing today or cosigning Trump's racist comments about Haiti and other African nations
He also called he out for her convenient bout of amnesia when question about Trump's comments.
“The commander in chief, in an Oval Office meeting, referring to people from African countries and Haitians with the most vile and vulgar language — that language festers,” Sen. Booker said. “When ignorance and bigotry is alive with power, it’s a dangerous force in our country. Your silence and your amnesia is complicity.” He also call Nielsen out about DHS ignoring the overwhelming evidence concerning white supremacist terrorism in this country.
Hate thoughts + Hate Speech = Hate violence/ Hate murders.
There are some of you who don't believe this Equation of Oppression to be true, but those of us in marginalized communities know this all too well what happens when bigots and bullies feel empowered to be as hateful as the wanna be, especially when they believe that particular hate speech they espouse against a group has a governmental stamp of approval.
Was angered to hear that yesterday the Casa Ruby LGBT Community Center on Georgia Ave in northwest Washington DC was vandalized and the trans person on duty who was working at the time was assaulted/
And this isn't a hate crime Washington Metro PD?
This was a mere two days after Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metro DC Police Chief Peter Newsham reported a 62% increase in hate crimes aimed at TBLGQ Washington residents in 2016 from 66 incidents to 107 in 2016. Crimes in DC against the DC trans community according to Ruby Cordao have gone up 100%
This also happened two days after anti-trans comments from a feminist blew up on the Net.
I have had more than a few pleasant visit to Casa Ruby in the last few years, and it pisses me the hell off that an org that is doing much good in the District and is the largest employer of trans folks there is having to deal with this level of destructive ignorance.
Metro DC police are looking for this suspect, and hope the waste of DNA who is swiftly captured and brought to justice.
I will also pass on any additional news from Ruby if the center needs anything besides your donations to fix what was damaged.
Have some more good news to report in the Deenequia Dodds case
To refresh your memory banks, 22 year old Deenequia was our DC sister who was shot during a robbery on July 4 in NE DC and died nine days later in the hospital.
Three men, 26 year old Jalonte Little, 21 year old Monte Tyree Johnson and 21 year old Cyheme Hall have been arrested and charged in this case with a robbery conspiracy and first degree felony murder while armed that was motivated by Dodds trans status.
These three reprehensible people are also being charged with four other robberies that occurred that day including the trio robbing another DC trans woman.
Little, Johnson and Hall are facing a potential 60 years in jail if convicted, and with the hate crime enhancement, if the judge in the case chooses to do so, bumps up the potential sentence to 90 years in prison.
Longtime DC trans activist Earline Budd praised the indictment in her comments to the Washington Post.
"It sends a message that it's not OK to go around and shoot, harm and kill transgender people," Budd said. "It sends a message that we are human like anyone else."
Now they just need to enhance the message being sent by finding them guilty of their crime and sentencing them to the maximum sentence allowed
I will be keeping track of this case as well and seeing if justice is served in Deenequia's case.
Janet Mock wasn't the only trans woman speaking at the recent DC Women's March. Raquel Willis was also on that stage to speak on that historic January 21 day, and she finally found and posted to YouTube the video from her speech.
As someone said on the YouTube comment thread, "Ms Cheryl (Courtney-Evans) is looking down and smiling."
I didn't like hearing that her mic was cut before she finished her remarks, but now I can share her Women's March speech video with you TransGriot readers
The full text of Raquel's speech entitled 'A Vision of Liberation' can be found at this link.
Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive -Janet Mack, January 21, 2017
While I wasn't there at the DC Women's March and was 139 miles up I-95 away from it in Philadelphia, we did have some trans participation there at it.
I know Nikki Araguz Loyd attended it along with 500,000 other peeps, and the reports are still coming in from people there and around the country in Trans World who were in attendance or participating in their local events.
Here;s the video and the text of Janet's speech.
So we are here. We are here not merely to gather but to move, right? And our movements, our movements require us to do more than just show up and say the right words. It requires us to break out of our comfort zones and be confrontational. It requires us to defend one another when it is difficult and dangerous. It requires us to truly see ourselves and one another.
I stand here today as the daughter of a native Hawaiian woman and a black veteran from Texas. I stand here as the first person in my family to go to college. I stand here as someone who has written herself onto this stage to unapologetically proclaim that I am a trans woman-writer-activist-revolutionary of color. And I stand here today because of the work of my forebears, from Sojourner to Sylvia, from Ella to Audre, from Harriet to Marsha.
I stand here today most of all because I am my sister’s keeper. My sisters and siblings are being beaten and brutalized, neglected and invisibilizied, extinguished and exiled. My sisters and siblings have been pushed out of hostel homes and intolerant schools. My sisters and siblings have been forced into detention facilities and prisons and deeper into poverty. And I hold these harsh truths close. They enrage me and fuel me. But I cannot survive on righteous anger alone. Today, by being here, it is my commitment to getting us free that keeps me marching.
Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive. It must extend beyond ourselves. I know with surpassing certainty that my liberation is directly linked to the liberation of the undocumented trans Latina yearning for refuge. The disabled student seeking unequivocal access. The sex worker fighting to make her living safely.
Collective liberation and solidarity is difficult work, it is work that will find us struggling together and struggling with one another. Just because we are oppressed does not mean that we do not ourselves fall victim to enacting the same unconscious policing, shaming, and erasing. We must return to one another with greater accountability and commitment to the work today.
By being here you are making a commitment to this work. Together we are creating a resounding statement, a statement that stakes a claim on our lives and our loves, our bodies and our babies, our identities and our ideals. But a movement – a movement is so much more than a march. A movement is that difficult space between our reality and our vision. Our liberation depends on all of us, all of us returning to our homes and using this experience and all the experiences that have shaped us to act, to organize, to resist. Thank you.
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Thank you Janet for the speech and repping us well (as usual) from the speaker's podium of this historic event.
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