Her name was Brenda Bostick
We finally have an identification. A transgender woman was discovered unconscious on a Chelsea street on the evening of April 25 after someone called in to 911 saying an assault was in progress. The victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital for treatment of a head injury, but she died on May 4.
The medical examiners office has now declared that the cause of death for Brenda Bostick, a 59 year old black woman, was homicide. Ms. Bostick was thought to be homeless.
Transgender woman are targeted all too often for severe and deadly violence. We are facing a crisis of violence.
Ten transgender woman have already been killed so far in 2017, nine have been Black transgender woman and one woman was Native. As a society we can stop this epidemic by hiring trans women of color, making sure they have safe places to live and standing up when we see or hear them being demeaned and attacked and simply by valuing their lives. The moment to act is now.
--Beverly Tillery, New York City Anti-Violence Project
Comments
And just because I like to add this in...
So far 10 people have died in 2017. For those who are not comparing relative rates, the last time I looked Trans people were dying at about 4 times the rate of everyone else. So yeah, that "10" number is a problem.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
@SnappleBCA Human Rights Campaign
Relative Risk Ratio Rant
First the Disclaimer: I am not an engineer (licensed or otherwise). I am not credentialed to evaluated Relative Risk in any real life setting. I just teach engineers and risk management people the tools and protocol to apply to their professional actions.
That being said I do risk management all of the time, just like any sane person going about their daily activities. I just know the math and dynamics better than most people ... so ...
A Relative Risk of 4.3 for one segment of humans compared to a second segment of humans should be of great concern for risk management professionals. Certainly, the actions needed to address this disturbing reality are more complicated than those required to, for example, reduce accidents in interstate interchanges. Engineering humane behavior while driving is fundamentally different than engineering humane behavior while engaging in interpersonal interactions.
While the differences are very real, the fact is a tremendous investment has been devoted to an effort to improve the Relative Risk Ratio from less than 1.5 in the one case. I know of no
appropriatecommensurate investment devoted to addressing the other obscenely large Relative Risk Ratio.This systemic lack of concern for the well-being of this one segment of our population is not very flattering.
Thanks
Snapple and Robyn.
I think referencing data like that (the 4 times statistic) is helpful for people understanding what is going on.
Murder is murder, and murder is always a terrible thing to hear. But it is also helpful to hear about those with increased risk and why that is so.
Something I wish to add in as well here. It was believed that she was homeless, as you added in at the end Robyn? I mean that just adds to the problem as well. I don't know really anything about her backstory, but if she was homeless, she just becomes more invisible to the general public. You hide in the shadows because you are homeless, then add in being trans as well.
I know nothing about the subject
But even casual thought yields the notion that being trans in this society is strongly counter-productive to earning a living. At the root, it all comes down to the fact that "we" detest "them" and so "we" are perfectly willing to see "them" suffer and die. That's what has to change. Trans needs to become normalized (as do all the other bull-shit things just like it).
What I cannot figure out is why on earth someone's gender identity or sexual proclivities has anything to do with me. I can absolutely guarantee that I've given nobody but my wife any real say in my identity and I don't want anyone else to have to do so either. That's rape of the worst sort.
Somehow we need to get past this shit but that's going to be hard as long as both parties are successfully using it to divide us. One thought I had about the whole bathroom thing? Let's suppose the imagined risks were real. Even so, I'm trying to think how many trans people I've seen throughout my life. Obviously I missed some but I sincerely doubt there are that many by the percentages. How much of a risk do roving packs of these hooligans actually present? Yet somehow it became an existential threat... somehow...
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Only
when we treat all others as equal, will we be.
Thanks Robyn.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Thanks, Robyn.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --