18-year-old trans woman killed in Louisiana, misgendered in news reports
A trans woman was killed in Louisiana on 19 February, but was not identified due to misgendering in news reports.
Jaquarrius Holland, 18, was shot and killed in Monroe, Louisiana on 19 February.
Two local news agencies KARD and KTVE reported the killing, during which Holland was shot in a verbal disagreement.
But the reports from both sources misgender the 18-year-old, and only since friends shared the reports and corrected how she was identified, has Holland been recognised as trans.
Speaking to Mic.com, a friend of Holland’s, Chesna Littleberry, confirmed that Holland identified as female and used female pronouns.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by Littleberry to help fund Holland’s funeral. It uses both male and female pronouns, as some of Holland’s family still chose to use male pronouns.
She says the victim stayed at her house, and didn’t want to “feel like she was intruding”.
“I’ve struggled with accepting myself and being who I am and she always helped me with that,” Littleberry adds.
“I want her to rest peacefully. That’s why I’m really excited.”
Some reports contained conflicting information about Holland’s age, but Mic confirmed that she was 18.
The killing of Holland is the seventh reported trans woman to be killed in the US in 2017.
A second trans woman of colour was stabbed to death in New Orleans earlier this week, the second in two days.
Ciara McElveen was found stabbed in the 7th ward of New Orleans by the city’s police department.
McElveen’s death came just two days after a transgender performer was shot dead in the city.
Chyna Gibson, who went by the stage name Chyna Doll Dupree, was shot several times outside of a shopping centre at 8.30pm on Saturday.
Gibson’s death came , just 4 days after Tiara Richmond (Keke Collier) was murdered in Chicago on Tuesday.
