This summer, on July 22, Paola Matos, age 31, was found strangled in her Brooklyn, New York apartment. On August 13, Stephenie Thomas and Ukea Davis — ages 19 and 18, respectively — were shot and left to die in Thomas' car on the southeast side of Washington, DC. Their killers have yet to be identified. Last month, on Oct. 3, Gwen Araujo, age 17, was beaten to death, allegedly by four men, ages 19-24 Newark, California, at least one of whom she'd had sex with earlier that evening.
As of today, none of these women's killers have received any jail time. Some say this is because all four lived in bad neighborhoods, or led a "risky" lifestyle. Others say it is because they were women of color. I'm inclined to point out another factor these women all shared — they were transgendered.
Violence against transgendered and transsexual people — people who live their lives as the gender opposite to their birth sex — takes many forms. Media representation about the lives of trans people is almost wholly sensationalistic ("Next on Springer: Shocking Transsexual Scandals!"), macabre ("Silence of the Lambs") or just plain goofy ("Dude! Where's my Car?"). When crime does occur against trans people, the news media often makes the incident that much worse by publishing trans people's birth names and referring to them by their birth-gendered pronouns, though the Associated Press stylebook insists that we as journalists "use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who ... present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly."
The media also has a way of dredging up personal details meant to paint the victims of these crimes as monstrous freaks who deserve what they had coming. In response to the homicide of Gwen Araujo mentioned above, Iowa State Daily columnist Zach Calef recently suggested that her alleged killers "just overreacted in a horrible situation" and that their actions were "understandable" though "murder is a little much." Sometimes one doesn't even have to be transgendered to be on the receiving end of the violence directed at the community: in 2001, Willie Houston was shot to death on a riverboat cruise in Nashville after being taunted with anti-gay slurs. He was carrying his wife's purse while helping a blind man to the restroom.
Unfortunately, the hardships that members of the transgendered community face are not limited to being victims of homicide. Most medical insurance plans (including OSU's) do not cover the astronomical costs of transition, and many doctors simply refuse to provide care to trans people out of fear of malpractice suits.
When they are victims of crime, police officers' insensitivity can halt the investigation of complaints, as in the 2001 case of 21-year-old Josephine Perez' sexual assault. She claims that the NYPD officer investigating her case, after forcing her to expose her genitals, informed her that "anyone with a penis can't be raped."
Today, November 20th, is The Transgender Day of Remembrance. As such, the Buckeye Regional Anti-Violence Organization and other groups are sponsoring a candlelight vigil to memorialize transgendered victims of homicide tonight at Goodale Park (they can be reached at 268-9622 more information and directions to the event). The murder of transgendered people occurs at the rate of about one every two weeks. Already this year we've racked the total up to 25. Something in our basic attitudes about gender needs to change — soon.
Bryan Dale Miller is a junior in social work and can be reached for comment at bryandalemiller@aol.com.
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