Vigil For Transgender Victims of Police Shooting August 26, 2011. Image provided by Washington Blade.
Violence against gays, lesbians, and especially transgender women has been a problem in the District–and the nation–for as long as I can remember. The development of a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit within the DC Police Department is meant to address the problem, but has it done any good? Last week, WPFW’s Latino Media Collective (Wednesdays from 7:00pm-8:00pm WPFW 89.3 FM) posed the following questions on their weekly program:
What has been going on recently in DC? Based upon the Metropolitan Police Department’s statistics, anti-trans bias crimes make up about 14% of all hate crimes each year. People who identified as transgender or people of color were 2 times more likely to experience hate violence involving assault or discrimination as non-transgender white individuals. This data also shows that being both transgender and a person of color increases the risk of violence and of murder. Is there a pattern in neighborhoods where these crimes are occurring the most?
The audio interview the Latino Media Collective conducted of DC Trans Coalition member Sadie Vashti suggests that the DC Police Department does not treat violence against transgender individuals as seriously as it does others. Listen to the audio interview of Sadie Vashti which aired on WPFW’s Latino Media Collective, Wednesday August 24, 2011.
Last week’s shooting of two transgender women by an off-duty DC police officer tells us that the police are not only less likely to take violent crimes against transgender individuals seriously, they are actually contributing to the problem.
The following is cross-posted from DC Trans Coalition:
Emergency Rally in response to Transphobic Police Violence
From DC Trans Coalition: “Today, we were notified by the Metropolitan Police Department of a shooting involving transgender individuals in the area of First and Pierce Streets NW around 5:30 AM this morning. We are still attempting to gather information, but preliminary accounts indicate two vehicles collided at the site, one driven by an off-duty MPD officer, and the other containing five people, two of whom are trans. The off-duty officer fired his service weapon at the three people in the other car, hitting one victim three times, and one victim one time. Community activists have visited the two trans women in the hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries. We have learned that the shooter and at least one victim may have known each other previously, and had an altercation at a nearby store before the shooting, but we do not yet know the nature of their relationship.
We are gathering at 6PM at the site of the incident to demand accountability and transparency from MPD on the clear trend of transphobic and homophobic actions coming from its officers. This incident is just another in a long line of systemic violence that trans women, and particularly trans women of color, face on a daily basis.Many members of our community have noted that this summer has been particularly violent. MPD reports at least eight violent crimes against trans people this year, but service organizations have collected information about many more. This is also the second violent attack involving an off-duty MPD officer in the past ten months. Tonight we hope to draw attention to the police department’s complicity in the ongoing violence that our communities must confront. Please spread the word and join us at First and Pierce NW. This violence must not go unacknowledged.”
The following is coverage of Friday’s vigil as per the Washington Blade:
About 70 people turned out for a 6:30 p.m. rally at the site of the shooting, which was organized by T.H.E. and DCTC. Among those who spoke at the rally were D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Groomes, who said she was appearing on behalf of Police Chief Cathy Lanier.
DCTC member Elijah Edelman told the gathering that Friday’s shooting of at least two transgender women by an off-duty police officer was one of many attacks and assaults against trans women that have occurred in the past few months in D.C. “So I think it’s fair to say a lot of us are really pissed off,” he said. “It’s very, very frustrating. We had conversations with Chief Lanier over the past several weeks, over the past several years, and nothing changes – nothing changes,” Edelman said. “So this is a moment in which we can finally say enough – we’re not going to keep doing this.”
Two Latino transgender women who spoke at the rally gave personal accounts of attacks against them in the city. Both women spoke in Spanish, with Corado translating their remarks in English. One told of how she was beaten and raped two weeks ago by an ex-boyfriend. The other women told of how she was attacked inside Dupont Circle by a male assailant who she is certain targeted her because of her status as a transgender woman.
“We wanted them to come here so we can put a human face on the statistics of so many of these cases that continue to happen,” Corado said. Others speaking at the rally included A.J. Singletary of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), Cindy Clay of Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS), and Sadie Vashti of D.C. Trans Coalition.
