Issue Number 1005 | An Invisible War | Advocate.com An Invisible War  |  | Advocate.com

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An Invisible War
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.
From The Advocate  April 8, 2008
An Invisible War

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.  

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.

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