Facing the harsh reality: violence against the trans community in the U.S is at an all time high
Despite the many steps forward the United States has taken in recent years regarding legitimizing equality for its LGBTQ people, one subgroup of the community still remains very much under attack – the trans community. 2021 was the deadliest year for transgender and gender non-conforming people in the history of the United States.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) reported that in 2021 at least fifty trans and gender non-conforming people were killed in the United States. This marks the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a single year since the organization started tracking the data in 2013.
However, the HRC’s report states very clearly that transgender and gender non-confirming deaths are very often under-reported, or misreported in general. This means that the total number of fifty deaths for this community is probably much higher than that. The HRC states that twenty-four of those fifty deaths were initially misgendered by the media and/or the police.
The report states that numbers are particularly high in the South, with Florida and Texas claiming a minimum of five deaths per state each of that total. As with years in the past, 2021 saw Black and trans women disproportionately targeted as victims of fatal violence. Well over fifty percent of the victims were Black and/or trans women.
Despite the change in presidential leadership in 2021, little to nothing has been done to help the trans community in the United States. In fact, conservative lawmakers are actively working against the trans people of the United States. In 2021, a total of 130 bills were introduced that discriminated against and diminished human rights of the trans community.
These bills were vast and wide in their areas of discrimination but went so far as to attempt to prohibit trans kids from using safe bathroom spaces, blocking access to healthcare for trans youth, and ensuring that trans youth athletes are not allowed to compete in sports. The federal government in the United States has done absolutely nothing to help the trans people of its country.
A record-breaking twenty-five anti-LGBTQ bills were signed into law around the United States, thirteen of which directly target trans people. The trans community, and the LGBTQ community at large, say enough is enough. This has to change in 2022.
Advocacy groups and community members are calling on President Biden to actively speak out on this issue, and then follow it up with meaningful action.
“He has done nothing to address the epidemic of violence against transgender Americans,” says trans rights activist Gavin Grimm.
The trans community needs everyone’s help in 2022. Vote, rally, stand up, speak up, be loud. Trans rights are human rights.
