This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/28/transgender-murder-california-community-fearful-angry
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Transgender murder in California leaves community fearful and angry | Transgender murder in California leaves community fearful and angry |
(about 20 hours later) | |
The transgender community in Fresno remains on high alert following the murder last week of Kenton Haggard, who was stabbed fatally in the neck moments after talking to occupants of a light-coloured SUV. | The transgender community in Fresno remains on high alert following the murder last week of Kenton Haggard, who was stabbed fatally in the neck moments after talking to occupants of a light-coloured SUV. |
Many transgender people in the central California city are staying at home during the night, fearful that they could also be targeted, according to advocacy groups, speaking five days after the attack. There have been no arrests in the case, which is the 11th reported killing of a trans woman in the US this year. | |
Related: Florida transgender woman beaten to death is 10th US trans murder in 2015 | Related: Florida transgender woman beaten to death is 10th US trans murder in 2015 |
On Friday, police identified the 66-year-old victim, a transgender woman, as male, heightening concerns in the LGBT community that transgender people are not being treated as the gender identity of their choosing, sparking what Zoyer Zyndel of Trans-e-Motion in Fresno described as widespread “outrage”. | |
LGBT groups have called for the murder to be classified as a hate crime. “We want justice,” Zyndel told the Guardian on Tuesday. “There is definitely a sense of fear in the city.” | LGBT groups have called for the murder to be classified as a hate crime. “We want justice,” Zyndel told the Guardian on Tuesday. “There is definitely a sense of fear in the city.” |
Zyndel says families of transgender persons want to believe law enforcement “has our best interests in mind”, adding: “Families are more worried than they would be normally and many transgender [persons] are apprehensive about going out at night.” | Zyndel says families of transgender persons want to believe law enforcement “has our best interests in mind”, adding: “Families are more worried than they would be normally and many transgender [persons] are apprehensive about going out at night.” |
“There have been efforts to contact police,” Zyndel said. “And police have not yet responded or met with activists.” | “There have been efforts to contact police,” Zyndel said. “And police have not yet responded or met with activists.” |
The attack occurred at about 2am on Blackstone Cornell avenues. Surveillance footage shows Haggard being attacked shortly after being called over to the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at hospital later that Thursday morning. | |
When asked about murder and the refusal to identify Haggard as female, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) said: “This once again reveals how far we still have to go in order to ensure that all members of the LGBT community have equal access to basic dignity and fair treatment.” | |
HRC and others had called on police to investigate the crime as a hate crime, but Lieutenant Joe Gomez of Fresno police said there is no evidence that the murder was a hate crime, and added that the department refers to victims by their physiological sex and only notes a person’s preferential gender identity if relevant to investigations. | HRC and others had called on police to investigate the crime as a hate crime, but Lieutenant Joe Gomez of Fresno police said there is no evidence that the murder was a hate crime, and added that the department refers to victims by their physiological sex and only notes a person’s preferential gender identity if relevant to investigations. |
Haggard’s murder was the second transgender murder last week – 25-year-old India Clark was beaten to death on 21 July – and the 11th in 2015. The HRC president Chad Griffin said in a statement to the media that “the level of violence targeting transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, is a national crisis that the LGBT movement has a responsibility to confront”. | |
In San Francisco, a feeling of trepidation has fallen over the transgender community, who joined other activists on Saturday in Los Angeles to protest against violence directed at transgender persons. Tiffany, a transgender woman living in San Francisco who declined to give her surname, said there is an overall sense of fear, of both the police and society. | In San Francisco, a feeling of trepidation has fallen over the transgender community, who joined other activists on Saturday in Los Angeles to protest against violence directed at transgender persons. Tiffany, a transgender woman living in San Francisco who declined to give her surname, said there is an overall sense of fear, of both the police and society. |
“We try to live our lives, yet we are told what our identity is by everyone, our families to the police, and when we are murdered, police don’t even care that we are who we are, and this is what really scares us about Fresno because it affects all of us transgender women,” she said. “All people deserve to live as we feel and be treated the same way in society. And for our police to continue to think as if our identities don’t matter is more bullying and it must stop.” | “We try to live our lives, yet we are told what our identity is by everyone, our families to the police, and when we are murdered, police don’t even care that we are who we are, and this is what really scares us about Fresno because it affects all of us transgender women,” she said. “All people deserve to live as we feel and be treated the same way in society. And for our police to continue to think as if our identities don’t matter is more bullying and it must stop.” |
It was only last year the FBI included for the first time statistics for hate crimes reported based on gender identity. HRC calls the FBI’s move part of “important first steps” but argued more effort and public awareness is needed to help stop gender-based violence. | It was only last year the FBI included for the first time statistics for hate crimes reported based on gender identity. HRC calls the FBI’s move part of “important first steps” but argued more effort and public awareness is needed to help stop gender-based violence. |
Previous version
1
Next version