Please, Let’s Not Forget Black Trans Lives Too
In the midst of a yearly pride month, people are standing up to racial bias. The black lives matter movement has swept across the world. While long overdue, it has finally opened the eyes of many to the horrible injustices befallen to the black community. However, we need to also shine a light on the lives of black transgender and gender non-conforming individuals who are often left in the shadows.
After the horrific murder of George Floyd, people have taken to social media in order to highlight the brutality black people endure on a daily basis at the hands of the police. However, some lives have slipped through the social media cracks.
Injustice and degradation has followed the many black transgender individuals throughout their life. Marred by transphobia, racist organisations and an administration that often belittles their experience or outright neglects them.
“If you aren't rallying behind Black trans victims of violence as much as you are cishet Black men, you don’t really believe that #BlackLivesMatter”– Activist Raquel Willis.
Tony McDade was a black trans man who was killed by white police officers on the 27thof May. This was after being the target of violence from a group of cisgender men. Many residents in his apartment complex overheard the incident and an excessive use of offensive slurs the officer made toward McDade before the shooting. Yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Only a few weeks earlier, Nina Pop, a black transgender woman was attacked and killed in her own home. This has marked at least 12 transgender/gender non-conforming individuals killed in the US this year, a number that grows increasingly each day. Most of whom are usually then misgendered by police and media after the fact.
One year ago, two black transgender women were killed in the space of a few days. Muhlaysia Booker was shot and killed after being stacked by a mob of people in Dallas. The next day, Michelle ‘Tamika’ Washington was found dead in Philadelphia. Both of which have found next to no media attention. This simply cannot go on.
It wasn’t too long ago that black and latinx trans women helped start a very important movement. One that has afforded many LGBTIQ+ individuals the rights they have today. As transgender activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera stood up to inequality during the Stonewall riots, they helped inspire and build a foundation for LGBTIQ+ individuals around the world to do the same.
We’re living in an age where social media has been used to show what is usually hidden. We need to start using the platforms we are granted in order to build up the black community. Black trans people make up a small percentage of the population, a percentage the shrinks further and further the more we choose to ignore the facts.
It’s time that we start to educate ourselves and step up to the plate. You can access valuable information and help donate to funds and organizations set up for black and aboriginal LGBTQIA+ individuals here: SNaPCo, Black Trans Homeless Women Fund, Trans Justice Funding Project, and Black Rainbow.
