Yahoo Finance 2021 on pace to be deadliest yet for trans and gender non-conforming Americans
This year is on track to be the deadliest for transgender and gender non-conforming people in the US, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Related: ‘A war on 100 fronts’: mapping the anti-trans laws sweeping America
HRC has tracked fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people since 2013. As reported by Axios. it says least 28 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been killed in 2021. Most victims were Black or Latina women.
At the same point in 2020, a record-breaking year for such killings, 13 had been reported. HRC tracked 44 such killings last year.
According to HRC, more trans people have been killed so far in 2021 than were killed in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
According to the 19th, a non-profit that reports on gender, politics and policy, LGBTQ advocates say a record number of Republican-sponsored state bills targeting trans children have increased transphobia and violence.
Killings of trans people are often underreported, in part because law enforcement and media reports tend to “deadname” and misgender victims, according to ProPublica.
Misidentifying trans people can disrupt a police investigation, preventing community members from helping identify victims and damaging the relationship between law enforcement and the trans community.
In addition to transphobia, unemployment, poverty and homelessness can put trans people at risk for greater violence, issues exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Compared with cisgender adults, trans adults are at a greater risk of dealing with suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide.
Violence against trans people saw 350 killed globally in 2020. Several countries in Latin America have a higher rate of murders among the trans community than the US.
But according to data from Transgender Europe, a network of organizations that advocate for trans rights, the US has a higher rate than Australia, Canada, South Africa, France and India.
