LGBT youths
victimized by hate crimes are now being targeted as much for
their gender expression as for their sexual orientation.
GenderPAC’s Riki Wilchins examines this
underreported phenomenon.
As we mourn the
tragic slaying of 15-year-old Lawrence King, few of us
realize that his death is part of a growing epidemic that is
claiming the life of another gender-nonconforming
young person every couple of months.
His killing has
been universally termed a “gay hate crime” of
unique violence, but there is reason to doubt both
these claims, which obscure a larger truth.
King’s
killing was far from unique. GenderPAC, the organization I
head, has long tracked crimes against
gender-nonconforming people. By our count, 59 such
people have been murdered since 1995. The most recent
victim, Simmie Williams Jr., was shot and killed February 22
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Like Larry, most
victims were biologically male but presenting
femininely. And most perpetrators, all males, attacked
others their own age: Almost two thirds of the known
assailants attacked victims within five years of their
own age.
And like Larry,
they were young: Almost one third of the victims were
teenagers. As more young people see gender as the next
frontier and test the boundaries of gender
transgression, more are dying.
But there are
some things about this horrific killing that really are
unique, beginning with the fact that so many people are
hearing about it. Only about 20% of the fatal assaults
GenderPAC documented generated anything like the kind
of sustained mainstream media coverage King’s
killing received.
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Wilchins is executive director of the Gender Public
Advocacy Coalition. To read the GenderPAC report
“50 Under 30: Masculinity and the War on
America’s Youth,” go to www.gpac.org.