[ad_1]
A Latinx transgender woman died by violence in New York City’s Bronx borough December 26, bringing the total of such deaths in the U.S. to 44 in 2020.
Alexandria Winchester, 24, was a client of the Ali Forney Center, which serves homeless LGBTQ+ young people and posted the news of her death on Facebook. Few details have emerged, but it appears that she knew her killer, according to the post.
“We do not know whether she was targeted because of her identity,” the post reads. “We are shattered, but our dedication is not broken. We are working with our community partners to host a vigil. As we mourn this loss, we continue our fight for trans lives, and we hold space for our trans coworkers and clients to bring light to her life and death, to say her name, to hold community, and to affirm that trans lives matter and trans lives are beautiful.”
2020 saw the most violent deaths of trans Americans since LGBTQ+ organizations and media have been keeping records. The total for any given year is likely higher, as victims are often misgendered by police and media, or their deaths not reported at all. Most of the victims in 2020 were Black or Latinx.
“It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, especially Black transgender women,” notes a press release from the Human Rights Campaign. “The intersections of racism, transphobia, sexism, biphobia and homophobia conspire to deprive them of necessities to live and thrive, so we must all work together to cultivate acceptance, reject hate and end stigma for everyone in the trans and gender-nonconforming community.”
“Alexandria mattered to her community and to the world. The loss of another transgender person in 2020 is devastating,” Lindsey Clark, associate director of the HRC’s Transgender Justice Initiative, said in the release. “Last year was the deadliest year for fatal violence against transgender and gender-nonconforming people that we have ever tracked. This is unacceptable. We must all come together and work to bring this violence to an end.”
(RELATED: These Are the Trans People Lost to Violence in 2020)
[ad_2]
Source link
