The Horrifying Truth Is That Every Day Could Be “A Day Without a [Trans] Woman”
Authored by Sharon McGowan, Lambda Legal’s director of strategy.
This year, for International Women’s Day, many women are staying home to mark “A Day Without a Woman.”
Building upon the momentum of the Women’s March on Washington, the organizers of “A Day Without a Woman” have called upon women to “take the day off from paid and unpaid labor” in recognition of “the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system.”
I salute the organizers who, in calling for gender justice, have specifically noted that “trans and gender nonconforming women face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression and political targeting.”
But when it comes to the plight of transgender women, particularly trans women of color, it is not enough to talk about discrimination and oppression.
Transgender women are being murdered at a rate that should warrant daily, above-the-fold coverage.
We are barely in our third month of this year, and already at least seven transgender women, all women of color, have been killed. This comes on the heels of the most violent year on record for trans people, with 27 reported murders in 2016, most of whom were trans women of color.
And yet, even within the LGB community, it feels as though news of another murder is met with a sigh and a shrug.
But as Elie Wiesel said, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
Perhaps, then, it should come as no surprise that police departments have historically failed to treat these homicides as worthy of their attention. And in fact, some police departments have been exposed as having actively targeted transgender women for abuse.
During the Obama administration, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department took police departments across the country to task for their neglect — and in some cases — their affirmative misconduct toward transgender people.
For example, its findings letter regarding the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), the Civil Rights Division identified specific examples of the NOPD targeting transgender women for arrest, and “fabricating evidence of solicitation for compensation” (in other words, extortion). And while most of the attention paid to the Civil Rights Division’s investigation of the Baltimore Police Department focused on the BPD’s racially discriminatory practices, the Baltimore findings letter also expressed concern that officers’ interactions with transgender individuals “display unlawful gender bias.”
Last week, however, Attorney General Sessions declared that the Civil Rights Division will no longer be in the business of holding police departments accountable. In doing so, Sessions intended to send a loud and clear message to police departments across the country that abuses against historically mistreated groups — including the LGBT community — are no longer of concern to the federal government.
No one should be surprised that Jeff Sessions cares not one whit about police abuse of LGBT people, people of color and other marginalized communities.
I salute my former colleagues in the Civil Rights Division who conducted these investigations, and hope (however fleeting that hope may be) that they will find ways to continue the good work that they began under the Obama years.
But unless we — the LGB community — start taking the murder of trans women seriously, no one else will either.
And unless that happens, every day has the potential to be “A Day Without a [Trans] Woman.”
So, rather than stay home today, I am at work (wearing red) and dedicating my energies to memories of the seven beautiful women who have been taken from us thus far this year: Ciara McElveen; Chyna Doll Dupree; Mesha Caldwell; Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow; Jojo Striker; Jaquarrius Holland; and Keke Collier.
May those who knew you and loved you always find joy and comfort in your memory.
