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Michigan foundation aims to repair relationships between

law enforcement and LGBTQ community

By Avery Zimmerman

Wayne State University

Com 2100, Feb. 25, 2019

A Michigan foundation is trying to increase the closure rates of cases committed against

members of the LGBTQ community by repairing relationships between the community and law

enforcement officers.

The Fair Michigan Justice Project is a collaboration between the Fair Michigan

foundation and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the special prosecutor

appointed to the project Jaimie Powell-Horowitz.

Powell-Horowitz and her coworker Julisa Abad spoke about the project at an event on

Wayne State University’s campus as part of the University’s Queer and Trans People of Color

Speaker series.

“There was an epidemic of murders against transgender women of color at the 6 mile and

Woodward area,” said Powell-Horowitz. “Cases weren’t being closed because law enforcement

didn’t know how to communicate with the community.”

Abad, a transgender woman and Director of Transgender Outreach for the Fair Michigan

foundation, said there is a history of mistrust between the LGBTQ community and law

enforcements officers.
 “Strains come from when offensive terminology is used by law enforcement when

interacting with members of the LGBTQ community. Many people don’t report their crimes

because they are fearful of the police or rejection by first responders, family and friends.”

Abad is essential to the process, said Powell-Horowitz, because the transgender

community feels safe talking to her.

The project tries their hardest to prosecute the offenders, but it’s difficult when

Michigan’s hate crime laws don’t specifically recognize crimes against gay and transgender

people, said Abad.

Michigan’s hate crime law, the Ethnic Intimidation Act, outlines a hate crime as intent to

intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, gender or

natural origin, according to the Michigan Penal Code Act 328.

In 2014, Michigan State Rep. Brandon Dillon proposed a bill that would expand this

definition to include gender identity and sexual orientation, according to Michigan House of

Representatives Bill 5857. The proposed bill was not passed.

The amount of hate crimes reported have increased in recent years, according to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation who reported a 17 percent increase between 2016 and 2017.

“It’s terrifying that every day I wake up and think today might be the day I lose my life

for no reason,” says Satrise Tillman, a transgender woman from Detroit.

Both Powell-Horowitz and Abad said that the Detroit Police Department has been really

receptive to cultural competency training.

“Law enforcement officers want to solve cases. It’s just an issue of communication.

They’re trying, but some things they just don’t know,” says Powell-Horowitz.
 Abad said that often the legal names of transgender people aren’t what they prefer to be

identified as.

“This can lead to problems when officers are trying to interview potential witnesses. If

you go around asking about a person in the transgender community using their legal name, no

one is going to know who you’re talking about,” says Abad.

Abad and Powell-Horowitz said they are making efforts to give law enforcement officers

cultural competency training so there is less miscommunication when interacting with members

of the LGBTQ community

Abad, Powell-Horowitz and other members of the justice project said they’re hopeful for

the future. “We are really starting to make a dent improving relationships between law

enforcement and the LGBTQ community. We are miles and miles ahead of where we started.”

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Sources:

Julisa Abad, lgbtteamabad@gmail.com. Abad is a transgender woman and activist who works
with the Fair Michigan Foundation Justice Project as the Director of Transgender Outreach and
Advocacy. Abad provided information about the transgender community in Detroit as well as
information on how to be a better ally at an event on Wayne State University’s campus on Feb.
20, 2019.

Jaimie Powell-Horowitz, jpowell2@waynecounty.com. Powell-Horowitz is a special prosecutor

who works with the Fair Michigan Foundation and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to
investigate crimes involving the LGBTQ community in Detroit. Powell-Horowitz provided
information about the relationship between the transgender community and law enforcement at
an event on Wayne State University’s campus on Feb. 20, 2019.

Satrise Tillman. Tillman works for the Detroit Health Department and shared her experiences
living as a transgender woman in a face-to-face interview on Feb. 20, 2019.