Students reflect on increased rates of transgender murders

Transgender women in the United States are facing all-time, high levels of violence. Last year, 25 transgender women were killed, while this year, 21 transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals have joined that number – 19 of which were black transgender women. 

These numbers only reflect the murders that have been officially documented in the United States. There is a correlation between the gender and race of the victims, according to the Women’s Media Center. Some were murdered by strangers, but the majority were betrayed by acquaintances or partners, individuals these women trusted, like in the case of Itali Marlowe who was murdered by a man living with her. Linn Tang, a Queer and Trans People of Color Collective (QTPOCC) board member, said the killings of these 19 transgender women this year were not random. 

“The vast majority of trans women who are murdered, attacked or assaulted are people of color, typically Black or LatinX,” said Tang, a sophomore theatre and integrated educational studies double major. “A lot of their culprits are people the women know; only a small portion are random.” 

Some of these cases suggest clear anti-transgender bias, stemming from transphobia, which is the irrational fear of, aversion to or discrimination against transgender people. When asked why transphobic men feel threatened by transgender women, sociology professor Omar Mushtaq said some straight men feel like their identities are under attack. Through his work, Mushtaq has extensive knowledge on social inequalities, gender and sexuality. 

“Society doesn’t see variation in terms of gender and sexual identity, so a lot of straight men who become involved with a transgender woman feel their sexual identity has been threatened,” Mushtaq said. “In many of these cases, there’s a lot of victim-blaming with the whole, ‘You deceived me; I thought you were a real woman,’ so these men take it upon themselves to violently attack those perceived as ‘traps.’”

In other cases, the victims’ transgender identity puts their lives at risk in other ways such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness and being forced into sex work for survival. 

“A lot of trans people are discriminated against in the hiring process because they’re seen as lying about their gender,” Mushtaq said. “Not all trans women are sex workers, but that stigma is associated with them. 

Some of these women turn to sex work to survive because they weren’t able to get legitimate jobs.” Only 17 states have explicit protections against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The definition of a hate crime differs across the country and in many states, gender is not included in its definition, according to Tang. 

On Oct. 21, 2018, the Trump administration leaked a document that detailed an effort to legally define gender as something determined “on a biological basis” – that is, binary, unchangeable and set by physical attributes at birth – as an attempt to deny transgender individuals their rights. 

Chapman has already taken some measures to protect its transgender population, such as hosting LGBTQIA+ clubs like QTPOCC and the Queer-Student Alliance, as well as hiring LGBTQIA+ staff and faculty and offering an LGBTQIA+ class, which will be taught by Mushtaq next semester. 

“I don’t think I will ever be able to completely understand the dangers trans people go through when they transition,” said Corinne Tam, a senior sociology major. “Every day, each of us presents ourselves to the world with the hope that it accepts us. I’m left in admiration for trans people and their bravery in boldly proclaiming to the world who they are, and it’s incredibly devastating that our society is still unable to recognize trans people just as they are – people.”