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Caleigh Stanier

Ms. Basile

English 9, Period #7

23 March 2018

Independent Research Project: Murder Rates of Transgender Women

The murder of transgender women in the US is an increasing issue. According to the

Human Rights Campaign, there were 25 killings of transgender people in 2017, which has
increased from the 23 killings in 2016 and the 21 in 2015 (Astor). Many of these growing
numbers of murders have been directed towards transgender women in particular. The National
Center for Health Statistics says that, “The annual murder rate for Americans ages 15 to 34 is
about one in 12,000. But [...] for black transgender women in the same age group, the rate was
one in 2600.” (Astor). Along with being directed at mostly transgender women, these attacks are
most often hate crimes. A stark example of this is the story of Ukea Davis and Stephanie
Thomas, two transgender teens whom while out driving late at night were brutally attacked by
the driver of the car next to them with a semi-automatic rifle. The girls were both were shot at
least 10 times each, and neither girl survived (Moser). Attacks like these have led to what
Washington D.C. activist Jessica Xavier describes as an atmosphere of “war against transgender
women," (Moser). An influencing factor in the heightened feelings of hate towards transgender
women is the population size. The population of trans people in the U.S. is small; just 0.3%. This
means that transgender people live all across the country, geographically isolated from each
other, which makes it difficult to form a community (Manjoo). This isolation means that many
people have not learned adequate information about transgender people, leading to negative
assumptions and hate based on old stereotypes. Because of hate stemmed from lack of
information, the murder of transgender women is becoming an increasing problem.

To counter this atmosphere of hate, people are communicating to help support and
educate the public. The internet has been a major tool in providing a safe community space for
transgender people, and for providing information for others. According to activist Aidan Key,
websites such as Facebook have had a positive impact on creating a platform for transgender
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people. He says, "Now you can see real life transgender people. You can hear their stories. You
can see the parents who have transgender children. Just imagine what kind of impact that has
had."(Manjoo). Social media has been valuable in increasing the visibility and available
information of the transgender community. As people learn more about others they become more
comfortable around them. This can be shown in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual survey on
people's feelings toward transgender people. Since 2014, results have shown that the numbers of
people who know a transgender person have gone up each year, along with people's favorability
of the trans community (Manjoo). Along with social media, volunteer organizations and
transgender support groups are working to form a more inviting community for transgender
people and to gain progress for transgender rights. SMYAL, or Supporting and Mentoring Youth
Advocates and Leaders, is a support organization for LGBTQ youth based in Washington D.C.
They work to provide community support future leadership opportunities, and positive social
change for LGBTQ youth (SYMAL). Another organization working in the same direction is the
National Center for Transgender Equality. Also working for social change, they are “devoted to
ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and
advocacy”(NCTE). Outreach and information through social media groups and support
organizations have helped to form transgender communities and to increase education. With
time, these are beginning to decrease misunderstandings and stereotypes that lead to hate and
violence. Though none of these solutions immediately improve the high rates of murder of
transgender women, they are working in the right direction to decrease the climate of hate.
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Works Cited

Astor, Maggie. “Rights Groups Report Rise in Deadly Attacks on Transgender People.”

New York Times, 10 Nov, 2017, pp. A.15, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Manjoo, Farhad. “Change, Powered by Facebook.” New York Times, 09 Jun, 2016, pp.

F.6, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

Moser, Bob. “’Disposable People.’” Intelligence Report, 2003, pp. 10-20, SIRS Issues

Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

National Center for Transgender Equality. 2018, transequality.org/. Accessed 22 Mar.

2018.

Scharper, Julie. “Activists Turn Focus to Transgender Rights.” Baltimore Sun, 14 Nov,

2013, pp. A.1, SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com.

SMYAL (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders). www.smyal.org/.

Accessed 9 Mar. 2018.