A spate of killings of Black transgender women in recent weeks has LGBTQ+ people on edge.
As in years past, Black trans women seem to be especially vulnerable to violence.
The women killed recently are:
- Claire Legato, 21, who was shot in Cleveland on April 15 and who died May 14.
- Muhlaysia Booker, 23, who was fatally shot on May 18 in Dallas. She had recently spoken out against a group of men who had attacked her while yelling transphobic slurs.
- Michelle “Tamika” Washington was fatally shot in Philadelphia on May 19.
- A Black trans woman was one of three people killed in Detroit on May 25.
The Human Rights Campaign has counted at least 136 transgender people killed by violence since 2013. They are disproportionately Black women, and it is believed that the true total is not fully represented.
With June bringing Pride Month and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that led to Pride month, people are talking about what can be done to protect transgender people, whose life at the intersection of race and gender identity makes them especially vulnerable.
Part of the solution comes with education. Answers to everyday question about gender identity, vulnerability, intersectionality and Stonewall are answered in “100 Questions and Answers About Gender Identity,” available from Amazon or the Front Edge Publishing bookstore.
