Though our country has progressed in its coverage on diversity and provided a voice to minoritized groups, it still lacks not only inclusive coverage, but a discussion surrounding one tier within the LGBTQ community: the transgender community.
While the Indiana House just passed Gov. Eric Holcomb’s hate crime bill Tuesday, which is another progressive step forward in the otherwise conservative state, the bill lacks the inclusion of discrimination against gender identity.
Although this was a positive effort in protecting many minorities within Indiana that deserve protection, the transgender community is excluded and will still be at risk of no protection and recognition, while other groups will gain it.
“You've made the focus on particular groups of people as opposed to everyone. It's not protective in the way that prosecutors need. It's vague, and this is not going to help judges,” Jeannine Bell, an IU law professor and hate crime legislation expert, said in an article for the Indianapolis Star.
Hate crimes are at an all-time high and are continuing to increase. The FBI reported that there was a 17 percent increase in reported hate crimes from 2017 to 2018.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, reported in October 2018 of the current list of transgender individuals who died due to hate crimes in the United States.
While there is speculation around the list, because many cases are either undocumented or not publicized, the organization provides insight into the conversation of including the transgender community, specifically “calling for increased and accurate media coverage of transgender murders."
GLAAD notably called for better media coverage of the frequent attacks trans individuals are experiencing.
One month prior to GLAAD’s outcry, USA Today reported after the murder of Nikki Enriquez, a trans woman, in September of last year that her death marked the 21st use of "fatal violence" in 2018.
And CNN has stated that more than half of these cases remain unsolved.
An important detail in these statistics is that many of these victims are trans women of color, who are the most targeted minority group in the LGBTQ community because of their intersectionality.
In Florida, where crimes against transgender women of color are common, there was a suspected serial killer targeting trans black women in Jacksonville.
Despite the increase in visibility for the LGBTQ community and the platforms created to represent the identities within it, the transgender community still remains as the one group without a stronger voice, equal rights and proper media coverage.
The next step is to speak up for our transgender brother and sisters, because if not now, they will remain at risk while the death toll rises.
