Petition urges White House to probe ‘shockingly high’ trans murder rate
The White House has been urged to launch a formal investigation into the high rates of trans people murdered every year.
Three trans women were reportedly murdered last week alone – bringing the total number of those killed in the US this year to 16 so far – though as there is little official monitoring, this may be a low estimate.
As the issue attracts attention for the first time – with Caitlyn Jenner giving over her blog earlier this week to talk about “the number of murders of transgender women of colour” – Barack Obama has been urged to act.
As the President is putting race-related murders and hate crimes at the forefront of his agenda, the leader has been urged to also investigate the trans-related killings.
An official White House petition says: “Since January 9, 2015, [now sixteen] transgender women, mostly women of colour, have lost their lives due to hate and transphobia.
“Eight of these beautiful lives were lost in the first two months of the year. With such a high death toll, something must be done to raise awareness and end the senseless killings of a targeted, vulnerable community.
“For transgender women of colour, safety is a real and warranted concern.
“We are asking the administration to raise awareness and take action to keep this community safe, by conducting a formal investigation of these deaths occurring across the county to the targeted community of transgender women, particularly women of colour.
“Please take action to ensure this community does not have to live in fear of losing their lives to hate and violence.”
So far 1,898 people have signed the petition. It needs to receive 98,102 signatures by September 9 to garner an official response from the President.
