Accuracy Matters When We're Discussing Trans Murders

As much of the country is aware of, we have now had eight trans women murdered due to anti-trans violence.   We know that seven of the eight were Black, and one was native American.  We also know all of them were under age 40.

But we have some people in Trans World who wish to count a trans man who died as a result of a police incident as a murder when it wasn't.   We also have people that wish to include folks who have committed suicides.

No to both of those, and here's why.

First of all, the trans man in question, Sean Hake wasn't murdered.   It was a police domestic disturbance situation that ended with a weapon being discharged and Hake dying as a result of it.   It wasn't a murder, and it's disrespectful to the memory of the eight women who have had their lives taken from us in 2017 to call it that.

Not all suicides involving trans people a result of anti-trans violence.  The reasons for a person committing suicide are as varied as the person committing it and them leaving a note behind explaining why they did so.  .

As someone who has been tracking trans murders for over a decade, accuracy in how we talk about these cases matters.  Now that we're finally getting some media attention concerning the issues of anti-trans violence, we cannot afford to be perceived as fudging or inflating the numbers with cases that clearly aren't murders..

Accuracy matters when we're telling the story about our trans siblings murders.  It's even more important to be accurate about it because the victims are predominately people of color, and we're dealing with a media that is predominately made up of cisgender white people .    .

The numbers alone are horrific enough.   We don't need to cast doubt on them by calling a police incident an anti-trans murder when it isn't, or claiming suicides are 'anti-trans violence'

Casa Ruby Vandalized

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.
 

RIP Crystal Edmonds

It's my sad duty to report we've lost another sister in 2016 to senseless anti-trans violence

32 year old Crystal Edmonds was shot in the back of the head early Friday morning at approximately 3:00 AM in the 3600 block of Fairview Avenue in northwest Baltimore.

Edmonds. who is a resident of southwest Baltimore, was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died five hours later.

Edmonds is now the 21st trans person killed in the US this year, which sadly equals last year's total

If you live in the area, a $2000 reward is being offered for any information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the waste of DNA who killed our sister, you are urged to call police at 410-396-2100, Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7LOCKUP or text a tip to 413-902-4824.

Will be keeping an eye on this case until Crystal's killer is arrested . convicted, and rotting in jail. If there is any information concerning a vigil or memorial service for Crystal, I'll pass that along as well. .

Rest in power and peace, Crystal.

Two More USA Trans Women Lost In 2016

Once again, it's my sad duty to report that we have lost two more trans women, one in Maine, and one in Chicago which brings the death toll this year up to 20 with three months to go.

43 year old Lexxi Sironen's body was found floating in the Kennebec River on September 6 at 8:15 AM EDT near the water reservoir of the Brookfield Power Facility.   She was from Waterville, ME, lived along the riverbank and was associating with other transient people in the area.

Friends of Sironen think that foul play was involved in her death, and while an autopsy on the body has been done by the state medical examiner, the cause of death has yet to be announced.

There will be a memorial service held for Sironen on September 18 at 12:00 PM.

Waterville police are still investigating, and if you have information that will help solve this case, please call Waterville Police Detective David Caron at 680-4700.

I'm also tired of the mugshot being used instead of this pic I found on her memorial website.

In Chicago, the body of a 26 or 27 year old Black trans woman known as T.T. to all who loved her on Chicago's West Side was found with her throat slit in West Grant Park and the knife nearby on Sunday night.   Ironically T.T's body was found a mere two blocks from the spot where Paige Clay's body was found in 2012.

T.T was pronounced dead at the scene, and was misgendered by the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune when they first reported the case.  It took subsequent reporting from the Windy City Times to correct the police and media misgendering.

There was a vigil held for T.T yesterday at the corner of Monroe and Kenton Streets in which a friend of T.T's named Jaliyah Armstrong stated that T.T had an altercation with another trans woman three days before she was found dead and that person threatened to kill her.

Hmm CPD, sounds like a lead in this case to me.

The Windy City Times in a 2015 investigative report by Gretchen Hammond documented the CPD's problems with misgendering trans people, but it's obvious that they still refuse to learn anything.

The investigation into T.T.'s death by the CPD is an ongoing one, but the local trans community is pessimistic that it will result in the arrest and prosecution of her killer.

If you have information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of T.T's killer, call Cook County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-STOP

Rest in power and in peace Lexxi and T.T.

Two More Trans Women Of Color Killed In Ohio And Texas

While I was up in western New York making a little trans history with Janet Mock, the world kept turning, and I stepped off the ground to find out that two of my sisters have been killed.

And once again, it fit the infuriating pattern in these trans murders of both trans women being under age 40, and being trans women of color

The one that really bothers me is the murder of 28 year old Rae Lynn Thomas of Columbus, Ohio.   This one happened mere weeks after the death up I-71 un Cleveland of 26 year old Skye Mockabee and sadly fits one of my mantras that I often repeat when I talk about anti trans bigotry and hatred.

Anti-trans hate thoughts + anti-trans hate speech = anti-trans hate violence and murders.

Thomas was murdered by her mother's transphobic ex boyfriend James Allen  Byrd.   He often hurled anti-trans slurs at Rae Lynn and referred to her as 'the devil'.

Gee, wonder where the 53 year old Byrd heard that description and some of that anti-trans rhetoric?  Pope Francis? Some sellout kneegrow pastor?   The Republican Party?   Right wing media?

Wherever he heard it, it unfortunately resulted in Byrd unfortunately taking his transphobic hate thoughts and hate speech to another level on Wednesday, as he called Thomas 'the devil' one last more time before he shot her twice and killed her.

And once again, the local paper, the Columbus Dispatch, added insult to injury by not only misgendering Rae Lynn, but refuses so far to correct their problematic story.

He was arrested, charged with murder and is being held in the Franklin County Jail on a $2 million bond.   Hope that will be a permanent condition for his when justice is served in this case.

775 miles to the west of me along I-10 in El Paso, we lost another trans woman to senseless anti-trans violence on Monday.

38 year old Erykah Tijerina was found dead in her apartment on Lisbon St.   El Paso County medical examiners have not as yet ruled on the cause of Erykah's death, but El Paso police investigators in the Crimes Against persons unit are quoted as saying there were obvious signs of foul play.

And just as in the Thomas murder, Tijerina was misgendered in the El Paso press.

Her family thinks it was a hate crime and she was targeted for being her unapologetic trans Latina self.  In case you're wondering, no thanks to Diane Hardy-Garcia, the head at the time of the proto organization, the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby that became Equality Texas.  As the ED of the LGRL she was responsible despite our best efforts, for throwing Texas trans people under the legislative bus in 1999 and 2001,

And nope, still pissed off about what happened in Austin at that time.

As a result of her actions, Texas trans people are not covered under the state's James Byrd Hate Crimes law that eventually passed in the 2001 Texas legislative session.  Translation: Tijerina's death isn't being investigated as a hate crime as a result of that legislative bull feces.

I'll gripe about that legislative travesty another time.  Right now I need to be focused on the fact my fellow Texan's life was tragically cut short earlier this week.

And yeah Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton and Texas Republican Party, your anti-trans rhetoric has real world consequences and negative ripple effects in the lives of transgender Texans

As of this writing there has not been an arrest made in Tijerina's murder, and anyone who has information that will lead to the capture and successful prosecution of it is urged to call El paso Crime Stoppers at 915-566- TIPS (8477) or toll free at 877- 566-TIPS.

If you have tips that will lead to the expeditious capture, prosecution and conviction of Tijerina's killer, please call the El Paso Police Department at 951-000-0000, text EPPD and the tip to 847411 or submit an anonymous tip

There will be a vigil hosted by Sun City Pride for Tijerina at The Edge nightclub tonight at 8:30 Pm MDT, with a second vigil being planned for August 21.

Tijerina's family also has a GoFundMe page up to help raise funds to defray the costs of her funeral.

I will be keeping up with the legal developments in both these cases until both the perpetrators of these murders are brought to justice.

Rest in power and peace Rae Lynn and Erykah.

Hey NBC, Will You Interview A Trans Brazilian During The Games?

When the Olympics kick off in Rio this August, we will see during the broadcast coverage in addition to seeing all the pageantry of the opening ceremonies,  the competition,  and the shots of the natural beauty of Brazil in and around the Rio area over the period of the XXXI Olympic Games from August 5-22.

There are also moments during the NBC coverage when they aren't updating the national medal counts, will take some time to address the news making issues that cropped up either during the runup to the Games or during the Olympiad itself.

And they will have a few non Olympic news stories to choose from.  From the Zika virus outbreak to the contentious attempt to impeach Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to wondering whether the Olympic venues would be ready on time, the NBC media team will have a lot to talk about that's non Rio Olympic competition related during the breaks between the competitions they wish to televise during their upcoming prime time broadcasts..

I also hope that one of the issues that will get discussed in a time in which we trans people are getting heightened attention is the off the charts violence aimed at my Brazilian trans sisters.  

While we are justifiably concerned about the 11 trans women we've lost this year, our Brazilian sisters look at our trans murder rate in the US with envy as they are sadly the runaway leaders when it comes to the near-genocidal slaughter of our trans siblings.

The anti-trans hate equation is in full effect in Brazil no thanks to a lethal cocktail of anti-trans hate peddled by the Roman Catholic Church and fundamentalist Christians, guns, anti-trans discrimination, no trans rights protections at the federal and state level,  and indifference by law enforcement to vigorously prosecute crimes committed against trans people.

Hope the NBC Olympic commentators take the time to discuss that ongoing human rights problem and give it the international visibility and attention it deserves while the entire world's eyes are trained on Brazil for the Olympics.

 

NYC Trans Woman Attacked For Riding While Trans

Anti-trans hate thoughts + anti-trans hate speech = anti-trans hate violence/murders.  That is the equation that unfortunately adds up to anti-trans violence aimed at our community

The Republican Party and the conservative movement has been putting unchecked anti-trans hatred in the air, and as I and other trans leaders have been warning, it's just a matter of time before the ignorati seize on that hate speech they put out there and turn into anti-trans hate violence aimed at us.

Here's video recorded by Translatina Network outreach social worker Pearl Love while she was minding her own business on the subway back on April 28.

This member of the ignorati began flinging unsolicited bigoted and transphobic comments at her, and then became agitated as she realized she was being videotaped and subsequently attacked Love.

Love is okay, but  it's just a taste of what we trans folks are increasingly seeing no thanks to the Republican Party gleefully spewing anti-trans hate for fun and political advantage.

And oh yeah, New York State, when are you going to add gender identity to the list of categories in your state's hate crimes law?  This video is more evidence that adding coverage for transgender New Yorkers is sorely needed.

Another Trans Woman Murdered- RIP Keyonna

Well, we've lost another trans woman to violence, this time in the Washington DC area.

22 year old Keyonna Blakeney, who just celebrated her birthday on April 11, was found dead at a Red Roof Inn in Rockville, MD on Saturday at 11:49 AM EDT.

Montgomery County, MD police reported that Blakeney suffered 'upper body trauma' , and they are still searching for her killer.  

They also flung specious allegations she may have been engaged in sex work at the time of her untimely demise.

And on top of all that shadiness, the local DC area FOX and ABC news stenographers misgendered and deadnamed Keyonna.

If you have any information that will help lead to the person or persons who killed her, detectives are urging you to call 240-773-5070.  

Anonymous tipsters can call 866-411-8477, and a reward of up to $10,000 is available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Keyonna's killers.

And yeah, I'm sick and tired of losing our trans younglings to violence. It's got to stop because #BlackTransLivesMatter too.
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Rest in power and peace sis.  Meanwhile your trans siblings in the Washington metro area will be watching to ensure the person or persons who did this are brought to justice.

   

Pemberton Found Guilty In Jennifer Laude Murder

It took a while, but a verdict has finally been reached in the Jennifer Laude murder case in the Philippines.

The good news is that US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Pemberton has been found guilty of killing Laude by the Olongapo Regional Trial Court.  The bad news it was for homicide instead of first degree murder.

Looks like he parlayed the 'trans panic' defense into reduced charges and time in jail.  He was sentenced to 6-12 years in a Philippine prison for it with credit for time already served.

WTF?  Pemberton admitted during his August testimony that he choked her unconscious after finding out that she was trans feminine during a sexual encounter in a motel on October 11, 2014.   He claimed Laude was alive when he left her in the hotel room, but she was found with her head dunked in a toilet bowl.

Laude's mother Julita stated in an interview that while she is pleased the verdict detailed everything that happened that night, she was not pleased about the sentence and hoped Pemberton would be found guilty of murder.

But she said, "The important thing is he will be jailed."

Yeah, but I'm still not happy Pemberton is only getting 12 years for killing one of our sisters.

Hope The Congressional Violence Against Trans People Forum Isn't Monoracial

I was thrilled to hear according to the Washington Post that the House Equality Caucus will hold on Tuesday a violence against trans people forum in the run up to the November 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The House Equality Caucus was founded in June 2008 by Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. (now Sen.) Tammy Baldwin along with Members of Congress who are strongly committed to achieving the full enjoyment of human rights for TBLG people in the US and abroad.

Today, the Caucus is co-chaired by the six openly LGBT Members of Congress  Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO); Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI); Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY); Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI); Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).

The Violence Against Trans People Forum is timely not only in the face of the looming TDOR date but us having 21 predominately Black and Latina trans people being killed in the US.

I hope that the House Equality Caucus will consider that fact, make this historic forum ethnically diverse and don't repeat the mistake made in 2008, I am concerned that the upcoming forum will end up being a monoracial one despite the fact the people taking the brunt of the anti-trans violence casualties are trans people of color.

I'm also worried that geographic diversity of the forum participants will be overlooked because of our nation's capital being easier to reach for people in the northeast US and East Coast and the people already living inside I-495 than the rest of us in 'flyover country'. 

While I love you peeps doing the trans human rights work on the coasts and in DC, our federal lawmakers really need to hear input from trans people who live in the South, Midwest and Rocky Mountain states as well.  It is in these areas where we are still fighting tooth and nail transphobic state legislators and officials to get the laws and policies in place that you peeps on the coasts and cities like Chicago have enjoyed for decades.

We owe it to the people we have lost this year to ensure this Congressional Violence Against Trans Women Forum is the start of formulating federal government level policy solutions that fix the anti-trans violence problem  negatively impacting Trans America.

Don't Even Dare Part Your Lips To Say 'All Trans Lives Matter'...

When it is my young trans people who are being slaughtered along with trans Latinas in 2015.

Please do not part your lips to say that vanillacentric privilege laden 'All Trans Lives Matter' crap.  Not in the mood to hear that from some white trans people, especially after a week in which the deaths of FOUR Black trans women in different parts of the country were announced, one of them was in Texas, and the four trans people in question were all under 35.

As my Texas trans elder Sharyn Grayson said to me earlier in the week when we were talking about it, "Our babies are being killed."

Yes ma'am they are, and some of the people doing it share my ethnic heritage.   It's why I have zero tolerance for that 'All Trans Lives Matter line.  It's insulting and problematic to say for the same damned reasons as that jacked up marinating in white supremacy 'All Lives Matter' response to ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬.

Let Moni school you on something right now.  There are because of whiteness and white supremacy, some trans lives that matter more than others.  The narrative about trans femininity has been focused on white trans women ever since Christine Jorgenson stepped off the plane in 1953, and now in the 2K15 attention and focus is finally being paid to trans women of color for something besides our murders, and some of y'all are still hatin' about that..

I repeat,  we have had FOUR Black trans women's deaths announced in this week alone and five in this month of August that still isn't over yet.  This is a crisis situation that deserves immediate attention and action to solve it.
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#‎BlackTransLivesMatter‬

Some of you may not care about Black trans peoples lives, but I, my trans elders and our Black cis trans allies damned sure do. Those kids are my next generation of trans people, and it deeply concerns me, my trans elders and cis Black allies they are being eviscerated before they have even had a chance to live their lives and make whatever contributions to society they would have possibly made.  

If you're saying 'so what?' to that point or the problematic life expectancy average of a Black trans woman being age 35, better rethink that.   If my 34 year old self hadn't kept a cool head and gotten myself out of a potentially dangerous situation in 1996, I wouldn't be here to talk about it, much less make the contributions to trans kind that I have made since then. 

This blog wouldn't exist either.

We Black trans peeps have talents that we can contribute to this community.  We may also be the ones destined to do some great things for humankind in general.  But we can't do that or make those contributions to society while buried in a grave.

I'll bet if the script was flipped and we had young white trans women under 30 dying at the same rate as Black and Latina ones have been in 2015, we would already have the 100,000 signatures on that White House We The People petition calling for the federal investigation of anti-trans violence and then some. 

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton would be saying it from the Democratic campaign trail, and Hollywood's trans supportive allies would already be talking about 'stopping the orgy of violence aimed at young  trans people.'

So no, don't even dare part your lips to let that infuriating and insulting 'All Trans Lives Matter' comment pass through your lips when some of these trans kids have yet to be buried..

It's fairly obvious some trans lives matter more than others, and we need to keep it real on that point.

Damn, Damn, Damn! Ashton Is Number 14

Okay, at this point I am starting to feel like Florida Evans in terms of hearing the news about another trans person that won't ive to see their 50th, much less their 40th or 30th birthdays.  

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of writing these posts about another young Black trans person being murdered before they have even had a chance to live their lives.

Meet 25 year old Ashton O'Hara of Detroit, who was murdered on July 14.  Ashton is sadly now the 14th trans person murdered in this deadly year of 2015 that has exceeded in 8 months the entire total of US trans murders for all of 2014.   And once again, Ashton is another trans and gender variant person under the age of 30  who has been taken away from us far too soon. 

We've had five murders announced in August alone and this month still isn't over yet.  And yeah, this is the second one in Detroit in 2015.  Amber Monroe was the other one, and the last report I had was her killer has yet to be found.

Once again, when will our #BlackTransLivesMatter?  And far too often, the people killing us are other Black people.   That was the case in this latest murder in which we already have an arrest in this case.

O'Hara's suspected killer, 37 year old Larry B.Gaulding is facing a first degree murder charge in a trial set to begin on September 24.   Let's pack the courtroom and ensure that justice is served in this case.

One thing I am happy to see is that a dialogue has been opened up between the Detroit PD and the local community that will hopefully result in a reduction in crimes aimed at the trans population.  

We also need other cis Black folks to stop cosigning on the conservafool driven hatred of trans people for their nefarious political purposes.  We're tired of y'all in Black Cis World thinking that the way to be a 'good Christian' is to mimic white fundamentalists conservafools who have a deep seated hatred of blackness and Black people. .  

As per usual, I'll be keeping up with this case as well in order to see if Ashton got justice.

Arrest Made In NYC Trans Subway Attack

I'm happy to report that an arrest has been made in the wake of last Monday's attack on a 28 year old trans woman who was waiting for a train at the Bleecker St Station.

According to a Reuters report, NYPD arrested on Friday 32 year old homeless man Rolan Reid on the same 6 line the trans woman was attacked

Reid was acting erratically, threw a plastic Coke bottle at the woman, and subsequently shoved her off the Bleecker Street Station platform.

Reid has a history of 28 previous arrests and was spotted on a northbound 6 train and taken into custody at the Canal St. Station.  He had to be physically restrained at the station where he was booked and was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Reid has been charged with second degree attempted murder as a hate crime and with various assault charges according to Sergeant Carlos Nieves.

The 28 year old victim of the alleged attack was treated at Bellevue Hospital for her injuries and released on Monday.

Know my NYC trans family will be keeping an eye on this case as it develops.  If  they pass along any pertinent information in it, you TransGriot readers will be made aware of it as well.

Trans Woman Attacked In NYC Subway Station

When I last visited New York City in December, one of the things I was cognizant of while riding their subways was making sure I was standing in the middle of the subway station platforms as I waited for my MTA trains to take me wherever I wanted to go.

I was well aware of the history of people being either shoved onto the tracks or into oncoming trains by disturbed people.

And while there are a lot of girls in NYC who are my height, I was definitely paying attention to my surroundings when I was riding the subways.

With the increased attention on trans people because of the media hoopla surrounding Caitlyn Jenner, it's also had the affect of transphobia being ramped up in right wing circles that may manifest itself into increased hate attacks on transpeople

On Monday a 28 year old trans woman waiting for a  southbound 6 train at Manhattan's Bleecker St. Station at 9 AM EDT was assaulted and shoved off the platform by a male assailant.

The assailant asked the woman “What are you looking at?” while standing nearby on the platform. He then “ran to a garbage pail” and removed a plastic bottle which he threw at her before pushing her onto the tracks, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

Commuters pulled the woman off the tracks and back onto the platform as the assailant fled the scene  Authorities then took the woman to Bellevue Hospital where she was treated for lacerations on her chin and other bruises on her chin and arm before being released.

NYPD is investigating this incident as a hate crime, and this person is wanted for the crime.

And note to you trans haters, trans women are not your societal punching bags for your personal problems and issues.

As we wish our trans sister who was attacked a speedy recovery from her injuries, let us also hope the waste of DNA who committed this crime be swiftly arrested and punished for it.

Unchecked Anti-Trans Hate Speech Kills

Right now I'm pissed the hell off. 

In the last two weeks we have had two Black trans women, aged 24 and 30 killed in Virginia and Texas.   Both have been misgendered and disrespected in their local media, and Lamia was further disrespected by having her arrest record salaciously added to the story by media stenographers who failed to read their AP Stylebooks

Meanwhile I'm observing a large corporation fighting a discrimination suit filed by another Black trans woman by asserting they have a right to discriminate against Leyth Jamal and by extension, all of us.

And yeah, seeing King Hater Dave Welch and Steve 'Swastika Cakes' Riggle accompanied by his not so merry band of sellout kneegrow ministers at the opening of the HERO trial here in Houston yesterday isn't helping my mood right now.

Because I'm thinking about two more Black trans women in Lamia and Ty that not only won't live to see my age as a Kennedy Baby, they won't live to celebrate their 40th birthdays.   

Hell, Ty won't know what it's like to celebrate her 30th birthday.

So if you wonder why I get pissed off when I see media misgendering of my living and deceased sisters, or call out people spreading anti-trans hatred and lies in comment threads or in the blogosphere, it's because unchecked anti-trans hate is not harmless.

I'm also beyond sick and tired of lesbian, gay and SGL peeps ignorantly or willfully enabling that anti-trans hate online, while we're trying to live our trans lives interacting with the world, and in their not so quiet rainbow rooms. 

Unchecked anti-trans hate speech kills.  And I'm tired of the Black and Latina trans feminine communities having to deal with the violent repercussions of that anti-trans hate speech morphing into families having to prematurely bury their child or starting a gofundme to come up with the cash to do so.

I'm sick and tired of the lost potential to us and the world at large of these young trans women who have left us far too soon.  Ty was studying to be a nurse, so we will never receive as a society the benefits of her permanently interrupted nursing education.

#BlackTransLiveMatter.    Unchecked anti-trans hate speech kills whether it's online, in the media or from the pulpit.   When is the Black cis community going to focus the same level of urgency of stopping the genocidal level of murders of Black trans feminine people as they do for the rest of cis Black America?

How long Black America before the loss of Black trans women to senseless anti-trans violence is also unacceptable to our community?

How many of us trans folks have to die before you cis people care? 

Jennifer Laude Case Update 3

The new year brings some updated news in the Jennifer Laude case, and the clock is ticking on it.. 

Under the Visting Forces Agreement between the US and the Philippines, the case nust be resolved within a year.   The prosecution filed murder charges against Joseph Pemberton back on December 15.

The trial proceedings have also been halted at the request of the Pemberton defense team by the Olongapo regional trial court has suspended proceedings for up to 60 days.

The Pemberton camp wants the US Justice Department to review the probable cause finding that led to the murder charge.

NCIS investigators discovered Pemberton's fingerprint on one of the condom wrappers found at the scene of the crime.. 

Pemberton before he was raken into custody aboart the USS Peleliu told a fellow marine the he had attacked Laude after discovering she was a transwoman and allegedly said to that marine: “I think I killed a he/she.”   Pemberton was subsequently transferred from the USS Peleliu docked in Subic Bay to be held in a US facility in the Philippine run Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

There's also some controversy involving the judge  handling the case, Roline Ginez-Jabalde.   Harry Roque, the Laude family attorney,  is going to file a motion seeking the removal from this case of the judge.

The reason?   Judge Ginez-Jabalde was a law school classmate of Rowena Garcia-Flores, Pemberton's attorney

Earlier in the proceedings the court rejected the Laude family’s motions for live media coverage of the hearings, and to transfer Pemberton to a regular Philippine jail.   

Stay tuned to these TransGriot pages for continued updates on the Laude trial, because like our transpinay sisters in the Philippines and transpeople around the world, I'll be watching this case to see if justice was served.

Trans Woman In Memphis Brutally Attacked

Here we frakking go again with yours truly having to report another instance of a trans woman of color being attacked

This time it happened in Memphis to Alexia Dupree Taylor, and as usual the police are issuing the standard 'It isn't a hate crime' line we're sick of hearing.

How does someone get stabbed and hit with a brick if it's 'just a robbery'?   Wake up and smell the transphobic violence in this attack.

The homeless Taylor was found on the ground Wednesday bleeding with head injuries behind a Midtown Memphis church at 69 North Cleveland St. according to a news report.

Taylor told Memphis police she was behind a building, a block away from the church, when someone dragged her down stairs and robbed her. After stealing a purse, the robber stabbed Taylor and hit her in the head with a brick.  She was taken by medical personnel to Regional Medical Center wher is was later upgraded to critical condition.  

Her friend James Houston said something in the article that I concur with: "I really believe that if she would have been in a place where she could call home, she would not [have been attacked],"

Here's hoping that Alexia not only recovers quickly and finds a home, but she receives justice when the waste of DNA who did this to her is captured.

Trans Woman Beaten In New York

This is another concrete example why GENDA needs to be expeditiously passed.

Was pissed off to hear via Gay City News that on October 12 a 28 year old trans woman was brutally beaten by four men in the Bushwick neighborhood around 11:20 PM EDT.

The incident took place outside of 1250 Buckwick Ave near Halsey St, and started when the transwoman while walking with a gay friend was approached by the man and asked 'what they were doing in the neighborhood'.

When they figured out the woman was trans, they began calling her a 'faggot' and beat her with a 2x4.  The gay friend escaped without injury, but the still unidentified transwoman was transported to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the hate attack.  In addition to the NYPD having surveillance video of it along with the weapon used in the assault, a bystander captured phone video of it.

The still unidentified transwoman according to Kate Barnhart, the executive director of, New Alternatives for Homeless LGBT Youth. was a client of their organization.  Barnhart added that it is not known at this time if the victim will have permanent brain damage as a result of this hate attack.

Barnhart added, “It is outrageous that transgender people are still not safe in what is supposed to be the safest LGBT city in the world.”

They are not safe because New York State has not passed GENDA and added gender identity in the hate crimes laws, or thrown the book at the waste of DNA who killed Islan Nettles last year.

Here's hoping these wastes of DNA are swiftly captured and is served in this heinous attack.justice

TransGriot Update:  The surveillance video of the wastes of DNA in this case.

What I'd Like For Transitioning Trans WOC

Yesterday I got an opportunity to participate in a Twitter discussion on the topic of stopping anti-trans violence disproportionately aimed at trans women of color moderated by Kylar Broadus. 

It took place for an hour starting at 2 PM EDT, and if you wish to check out the Twitter chat thread, you can search the ‪#‎StopTransMurders‬ thread to read mine and the comments of others on that topic.   

When Katrina Goodlett pointed out she was about to reach her 35th birthday in two weeks, it was a sad reminder that is the average life expectancy for TWOC's because of anti-trans violence aimed at trans women of color, and it drove me to write this comment in response:

I would like for a transitioning TWOC to expect to live her life past her 35th birthday ‪#‎StopTransMurders‬

I didn't stop there.  I posted on my Facebook page I would like for that transitioning TWOC to have a roof over her head, a job at a living wage, food in her pantry, medical care and clothes in her closet.

And that resulted in the thinking that resulted in what else I'd like to see for transitioning trans women of color.

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to have caring, loyal and supportive family and friends enveloping her in love and support so she can concentrate on being the best person she can be.

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to have her life respected and protected.  

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to not have to deal with negative law enforcement attitudes that manifest themselves into when they see her walking down the street, she's a target for harassment, she gets stopped and frisked for Walking While Trans, or worse.

I'd like a transitioning TWOC to recognize she is part of a long line of fabulous women with a proud heritage, has sisters cis and trans, and she is not alone. 
I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to have pride in herself, know her history, and be proud of being a trans woman of color.

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to be able to get her name and identity document changes without drama or hassle from bureaucrats.

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to be able to love and marry the person of whatever gender that loves them, be they cis or trans without stigma. 

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to see the day that people who love them and desire them as life partners aren't ashamed of them.

I'd like for a transitioning TWOC to see the day that cis women recognize that trans women are women, and we are your allies and sisters in the struggle.

I like for a transitioning TWOC to see the day that the Transgender Day Of Remembrance becomes obsolete.  

But that is a long way from happening until the lives of trans women of color, and especially Black trans women matter not only to ourselves, but our own people.

But a sistah can dream can't she?   This is one dream I'd definitely like to make a reality.

Anti-Trans Violence In NYC Subway

One of the things I'm beyond being sick and tired of being sick and tired of is the anti-trans hate being directed at Black transwomen in our community by Black cis males that manifests itself into anti trans violence.as demonstrated in the MARTA attack on two transwomen by Luther Thomas and Frederick Missick back in May. 

I had this video clip sent to me by longtime TransGriot reader LaSaia Wade of another depressing transit system attack on a Black trans woman by a cis Black 'man' as this Black trans woman is trying to just go through her day without drama.  

Not aware of what transpired between the two to drive it to this level that is videotaped in this attack on the transwoman in question in this NYC subway platform, but I am bothered that no one came to her aid.

I'm even more upset about the fact some people thought this crap was humorous, and this alleged 'man' thought it was okay to put his balled up fists on a trans woman. 

No dudes and ignorant transphobes,.trans* women are women, and you're a punk if you think it's ever okay to take a swing at us.  

Sharae Kavoskii, your transphobic ignorance and poisonous self loathing is also on display for using the t-slur word in your caption of the video.

People throwing their balled up fists at a transwoman isn't cute, funny or entertaining.  If you think it is, something is seriously wrong with you as a human being.  We transgender women are not your punching bags to take out whatever anger issues you have in your miserable life out on us.

We transpeople are part of the diverse mosaic of human life on this planet and we aren't going away.   Deal with that reality. 

Trigger Warning for language in fight video