Rallies to take place across the US against killings of black trans women
A number of rallies are taking place today across the US in order to stand up against the increasing violence against black trans women.
The rallies will take place on Tuesday, which has been dubbed TransLiberation Tuesday.
The hashtags #BlackLivesMatter and #TransLiberationTuesday will be used to follow the events.
A disproportionately large number of trans women, particularly black women, are killed. In the US this year, 18 trans women have been reported murdered this year, a majority of those black.
The number for this year exceeds that for the whole of 2014, and of course does not include unreported deaths or transgender people misgendered by law enforcement.
Elle Hearns, Black Lives Matter strategic Partner said in a press release: “We say the names of Mya Hall, Kandis Capri, Elisha Walker, Shade Shuler, Ashton O’Hara, India Clarke, Amber Monroe. We say the names of the black trans women whose lives have been cut short and demand that our cisgender family acknowledge that all black lives matter.”
“The time is now to join #BlackLivesMatter in action as we celebrate our sisters who are living — the very sisters who have fought next to us to sustain this declaration that has been heard around the world.”
In a brutal incident last week, one trans woman Tamara Dominguez was repeatedly run over by an SUV and died shortly after.
Three trans women were reportedly murdered in the previous week..
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.
