Thursday marks
one decade of acknowledging the Transgender Day of
Remembrance, with celebrations and vigils being staged all
across the country.
Thursday marks
one decade of acknowledging the Transgender Day of
Remembrance, with celebrations and vigils being staged all
across the country.
Allyson Robinson,
the Human Rights Campaign's associate director of
diversity, says this year was one of the worst on record for
transgender people.
“The most
highly publicized murders in the transgender community this
year had included Lawrence King and Angie Zapata," she said
in a statement on Thursday. "Then last week we learned
that Duanna Johnson, the transgender woman who in July
was bludgeoned by police officers, had been murdered
execution-style on the streets of Memphis. And just
this week came word of he shooting death of Latiesha Green
in Syracuse, N.Y., by someone she had only met hours
before. All told, at least 15 transgender people have
been murdered in hate crimes in the U.S. this year
alone.”
The Federal
Bureau of Investigation does not keep records on hate crimes
performed because of a person's gender identity. However,
data for 2007, the latest available, indicates
that 15.9% of hate crimes were due to the
victim's sexual orientation.
Zapata wanted to
become a professional cosmetologist and drag performer
in Denver. She was just 18 when she was found dead on July
17 in her Greeley, Colo., apartment. Her accused
killer, Allen Andrade, was charged with murder as a
hate crime in August, after admitting to police that he
had "killed it." The hate-crime charge can add an extra 18
months to his sentence if he is convicted.
Bridges McRae, a
former Memphis police officer has been charged with
beating Johnson while she was in police custody. Johnson was
being booked for prostitution in February. McRae, 28,
and his partner James Swain, 25, were both fired after
video surfaced of the beating. Despite the video,
McRae has pleaded not guilty.
Dwight DeLee, 20,
has been charged with murdering 22-year-old Green, and
prosecutors are considering whether he will additionally be
charged with a hate crime. Green and her brother Mark
were invited to a party, but people were bothered by
the fact that Green was transgender, according to WSYR
News. When they pulled up in their car, DeLee approached
them, shouting profanities. According to authorities,
went back inside the house and returned with a gun,
shooting at Green and Cannon. The bullet hit Green in
the chest, and Cannon drove her to University Hospital in
Syracuse, N.Y. where they she was pronounced dead.
The Transgender
Day of Remembrance started in November 1998 to honor Rita
Hester, a local Boston rock scenester who was brutally
murdered in her apartment. The first vigil was held in
Boston as a response to her death, with 250 people
gathering to march through the streets. The following
year, numerous cities joined Boston in remembering others
who have been lost to violence. (Michelle Garcia,
The Advocate)
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