Transgender homicide rate hits historic high in US, says new report

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Transgender homicide rate hits historic high in US, says new report

The report documented 21 homicides so far in 2015 – and none prosecuted as
hate crimes – leading members of Congress to set first-ever forum on the issue

Zach Stafford in Chicago
Friday 13 November 2015 15.34 GMT

The number of transgender homicide victims in the US has hit a historic high, according to a new report from advocates, leading members of Congress to officially respond to an emerging pattern of tragedy with the first-ever forum on transgender violence.

The Human Rights Campaign report documented 21 transgender homicide victims so far in 2015, almost all of them transgender women of color, and likely an underestimate due to the difficulty of tracking the homicides. Among all 53 transgender murders from 2013 to 2015, not a single one was prosecuted or reported as a hate crime, the report found.

“There are now more transgender homicide victims in 2015 than in any other year that advocates have recorded,” said HRC president Chad Griffin in a statement.

On Tuesday 17 November, members of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus will hold the first forum on transgender violence to hear testimony from survivors, service providers, and policy experts. Before the forum, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus will be announcing the formation of a Transgender Equality task force.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/13/transgender-homicide-victims-us-has-hit-historic-high

[randys1]

1. God dammit

[RKP5637]

2. Fucken violent country! n/t

[LostOne4Ever]

3. It just gets worse and worse

[monicaangela]

4. This is really terrible

homicide for whatever reason is terrible, and whoever the act is committed against is of no matter as far as I am concerned. One person killing another person is inhumane IMHO, and that includes capital punishment, an abhorrent act still perpetrated on the people of this nation by the States in which they live.

The deaths of many of these transgender people are tantamount to this IMHO:

[Old Union Guy]

5. The "historic high" may be an artifact of not previously keeping statistics on transgender homicide.

It would not have been called that before around 2005, but it certainly happened.